Building A Grimm Family
by linda.jenner
Summary: At his trial Harry Potter chose Exile from the wizarding world, after having been convicted on multiple charges centered around the Voldemort War. His sentence was to be twenty years. Fawkes had other ideas. A part of The Aftermath Series
1. Chapter 1

_"Thank you, Mr Potter." He took the parchment the clerk was patiently holding. "The Wizengamot will confer and inform you of our decision."_

_Fifteen minutes later Harry was holding his breath and Hermione's hand. Would the five members of the Wizengamot agree to his requests? Would he get what wanted?_

_"The sitting members of the Wizengamot have reached a consensus…"_

Lucius Malfoy looked at Harry from his seat in the Wizengamot members' benches. For the first time, Harry saw a Malfoy that was not pleased with his own actions.

"We regret that we are unable to meet all of your requests, Mr Potter." He sighed. "As far as your requests in relation to Life in Exile? Point One. Your muggle identity and altering it are a minor issue. Nominating only one person to be aware of your muggle identity, we believe not to be a wise idea, however there are ways to lock that information away in a person's mind that is only released upon your chosen information holder's death. Point Two. Altering your appearance. Miss Granger's suggestions are feasible, both of them. We do understand your reasoning and to a point, we agree with it. We don't like it, but we do understand it. Point Three. We have conferred with St. Mungo's and the only option available to you is sterilisation, be it temporary, linked to your core binding or permanent. There are no other alternatives, I'm afraid. Point Four. Your finances. That's a little more complex. Gringotts have informed us that the Potter Family Charter states that no more than ten percent of the gross estate value may be transferred to the muggle world, however that is still a respectable amount. But the Black Family Charter stipulates that no monies from any of the Black Estates may be transferred into muggle control. Your personal possessions? Professor Flitwick believes that he can cast a charm that will enable you to see and value a trunk, but have no curiosity or desire to open it, until or if the bindings are lifted. Point Five. You are an adult of legal age and as such have the right to disperse your assets where you choose. If you write a Will, we will see that it is apportioned as per your wishes. There is one condition that we can add to a sentence of Exile… a time limitation. If Mr Potter were to choose this option, we have the availability of adding time for completion of sentence, unfortunately, we are unable to make that anything less than ten years, if Lady Magic decides otherwise and the bindings lift earlier, the Wizengamot will accept that as Her Judgement." He held out a fresh sheet of parchment. "Here are the agreed upon requests for the Exile option."

Harry waited while the clerk fetched the parchment and handed it to Hermione.

"As for the Veil option? A wand. Mr Potter, a conviction under Mordred's Law prohibits this Ministry from permitting you a wand, at least until your sentence is complete." Malfoy paused. "To clarify… If you were to select the Exile option and at some point, in the future, the bindings one your core are lifted, be it by order of the Wizengamot or by your own hand or that of Lady Magic, whichever is irrelevant, such an action would constitute the completion of your sentence."

"Thank you for adding that, Mr Malfoy. That hadn't been covered." Kingsley commented.

"Understandable and I apologise for not mentioning it earlier. But we digress. A wand. We have to deny this request, not because we wish to, but because it is the law. Point Two. The mokeskin pouch. Yes, certainly we shall return it to you. Point Three. Unfortunately, the only option that allows you to retain any finances is the Exile option. This is a grey area, if you choose the veil, you will no longer be a citizen of our world and the only legal equivalent is death, and as such we suggest that you write a Will to come into effect upon your entrance into the veil. However, we do understand your hypothesis and while the Wizengamot cannot provide you with monies, there is no such restriction on your advisors. If Miss Granger, Auror Shacklebolt or Unspeakable Croaker were to gift you with items or monies, we do not have the right to deny your acceptance of said gifts, but it can only be one coin at any given visitation."

"Understood." Kingsley spoke and Harry and Hermione both nodded.

"Point Four. Battle robes. We are unable to agree to this. This court must provide you with clothing, however, Mordred's Law specifically stipulates the only items we can and must provide. Three pair of cotton canvas trousers, three cotton button-down shirts, three cotton undershirts, six pairs underpants, six pairs socks, one pair cow-leather shoes or boots, one wool knitted jumper/pullover, one change of sleepwear."

"Damn." Harry whispered.

"Point five. The trunk. While Miss Granger holds your complete trust, Mordred's Law again inhibits us, in what can be provided to you. A trunk and its contents are not on that list, I'm afraid. The best we can do is to provide a muggle bag of Miss Granger's choosing to hold the already mentioned items, however all items provided must be muggle in nature with no wizarding magic applied to them."

"Double damn." Harry muttered.

"So, it comes down to which sentence you would prefer. Mr Potter we are remanding you to the DMLE holding cells for the night. Visitors are permitted but must be vetted by the DMLE prior to your attendance. Physical contact with those visitors will not be permitted. I'm sorry, I'm told that's standard for the holding cells." Malfoy raised a brow to Kingsley in question and received a nod in reply. "While the veil is here in the Ministry, we have granted Miss Granger the opportunity to provide items on your behalf, to expect her to be able to produce those items before close of business today is unreasonable. On the other hand, were you to choose Exile, the DMLE would need to be involved in creating your new identity and then there's the charms on your core and memories to consider, too. I understand that between them, it would take a number of hours to resolve and secure the matter. Your sentence, whichever you choose will come into effect at midday tomorrow." Malfoy straightened his shoulders. "You will have quill, ink and parchment supplied to you, for the purpose of writing a Will, a goblin from Gringotts will be brought to you to certify your Will. I do suggest leaving a portion of your estate to your new identity, as we have place a minimum of ten years to your sentence, eventually the core and memory binds will lift, enabling you to return to our world to claim said estate, unfortunately, we have been informed by St. Mungo's, that if you were to proceed, changing you name magically will affect your magical signature. It would be best to take that into consideration in advance."

Lady Longbottom turned to Hermione. "Miss Granger? As stated, you will be permitted to purchase items on behalf of Mr Potter. None of those items are to hold, contain or half wizarding magic applied to them. You will be expected to display those items and they will be randomly tested to ensure that the rules, that the DMLE have placed for the protection of prisoners, have been followed. You will be provided a list," she offered up a sheet of parchment, "of the items that must be provided and a description of said items. If these items are not available, you may purchase the nearest comparable item, you will however, be required to explain the substitution."

"Mr Potter? Have you reached a decision, or would you like a few minutes to discuss the matter with your advisors?" Malfoy asked.

"I'd like five minutes to discuss it, sir." Harry answered.

"Granted. Auror Shacklebolt, may place a silencing ward around you and your advisors." Malfoy nodded.

"Thank you, sir." Harry nodded back.

Kingsley tossed up a privacy ward and Hermione instantly began to rant.

Until Kingsley silenced her.

"Thanks, Kingsley. Mione, shut up and listen. Logically, we knew I wasn't going to just walk away, too much has happened. This isn't as good as you might have wanted but it's better than I expected. Hell, I expected 'go straight to Azkaban, do not pass GO, do not collect ʛ200'. This is better."

"Better? How the hell do you figure that?" Kingsley demanded.

"Okay, Life in Exile might be hell on earth to you or other magicals, Kingsley, but not to me. Magic is cool, but I've had to live without every summer, I can keep going. It might be different if I were older and been living in the magical world for longer, able to do magic anytime I wanted, but that hasn't been the case. I never used it outside Hogwarts, excluding emergencies, and since August, Hermione, Ron and I have been on the run, we used magic rarely, we weren't sure if the Ministry under Voldy could track our magical signatures."

"Only if their signature is on record. The closest is if someone splinches, we can use their signature to collect whatever parts they misplaced." Croaker answered.

"Good to know." Harry snorted.

"So, you're not concerned about living in the muggle world permanently?" Kingsley asked.

"No, not really. And that's the option I'm choosing." Harry words made the three, gasp in shock.

"What?" Hermione overrode Kingsley's silencing hex.

"The wizarding world hasn't been good to me, I could easily live without it. The only good things it's given me, have been my friends. Life in Exile means losing those friends. Same with the veil. But with the Exile option? With the time limit Malfoy set? I will eventually get you back, it might take years, but it will happen. I can accept that."

"So, you're choosing Exile?" Hermione whispered.

"I am." He nodded."

"Oh, Harry." She whispered and a tear ran down her cheek.

"You need to be strong, Mione. Go get your parents back. Live, be happy. For me? Please?" Harry let his own tears fall. "Even if the Wizengamot cleared me, I wouldn't be staying in Britain's wizarding world, I can't, not after the way they've treated me for the last seven years. I can't."

"What if another Dark Lord comes?" Hermione pleaded.

"I risked my life for them every year, Hermione, and not once did anyone other than you or the Weasley's ever say thanks, not one person. I died for them and do your really think any of them are going to say thanks? Maybe, but if another Dark Lord came, they'd expect me to die for them again. It's time I lived for me, not the wizarding world. But if the worst should come to the worst, there will be someone that knows how to find me, knows my new name. I won't ever leave you defenceless, I couldn't live with myself, if I did." Harry begged his friend to understand.

"I get it. I don't like it, but I get it. Alright. What can I do to help?"

"Help me write a Will?"

"You got it."

"Thanks. Kingsley, I'm ready." Harry nodded towards Malfoy and the other members of the Wizengamot.

Kingsley didn't say anything, he just flicked his wand and let his privacy wards fall.

"I've made my choice, Mr Malfoy." Harry said, once he had the wizard's attention.

"And which sentence have you decided upon, Mr Potter?" The blonde wizard asked.

"I choose Exile."


	2. Chapter 2

Kannan Grimm unlocked the door to his little flat and sighed.

"Not again…"

The furniture in his living room had been moved, pushed back against the walls leaving a large creamy coloured, wool rug laying in the middle of the room. Bare except for a single red and black feather.

"Dammit." He sighed a second time and headed for the phone, he needed to call the police, this was the third time someone had done this.

Dialling the local station, he explained the situation and the bobby on duty said they would send someone around, it might take an hour, but someone would be there. While he waited, Kannan stayed in the kitchen and out of the living room, he dished himself a serve of the hearty stew he'd made the night before and sat looking forlornly out over his neighbour's back delivery dock.

The last week had been hard and his headaches were increasing, not to mention that the shop where he worked had been sold and the new owners were horrid. So much so, that after listening to the new manager, Ms Lincoln, berate a customer for nearly ten minutes, Kannan had sighed and stepped in, a few more insults and something in Kannan had snapped. He'd called her an evil harpy, pulled off his apron, slammed it down on the counter and told her, he quit.

Thank god, that yesterday ended his pay week. He'd accepted his payslip as he'd arrived to start the day, knowing that the money would have already been deposited into his bank account overnight, which was a relief. The benefit of having an accountant monitoring the transition from one owner to the next, he guessed. He didn't imagine that he'd be likely to receive anything for the few hours he worked, that day, but it was worth it, just to see the look on the bitch's face and have the gathered crowd cheer for him.

The buzz of the doorbell alerted him to the police's arrival. He showed them in and explained the situation, they took the feather as evidence and a whole heap of photos, but warned him that, like on the last two occasions, there was no evidence of force, tampering or fingerprints and suggested that he replace the locks… again.

He sighed and told them that his lease was up in a week and he was seriously thinking of just leaving. He had a few medical appointments to take care of, but then…? He was thinking of maybe travelling for a few months. The police nodded and left him to his afternoon.

As he sat on his balcony he thought back, as far as his memories would go. Which wasn't all that far.

Three months ago, Kannan had been found battered, beaten and unconscious, leaning against the emergency department's doors at St. James' University Hospital in Leeds, with what appeared to be a minor head wound. But that minor wound turned out to be a little more major than the docs anticipated. Kannan had no memory. Of anything. He didn't know his name, what city they were in, his age, his parents' names, what school he'd gone to. Nothing. His life was a bit fat blank, prior to waking up four days after he was found.

The police investigation was able to give him a rough idea of who he was and what his life had been like.

Kannan Evan Grimm was born to Rose Tansy Evans and Nigel Patrick Grimm on the 1st August 1979. Kannan had been kidnapped as a toddler and Rose killed in the same event. It took thirteen years before Kannan was returned to his father, unfortunately Nigel was killed in a Football stadium fire in 1995, leaving Kannan an orphan at sixteen. Due to his age he was placed into a halfway house and left pretty much to his own devises. He found work at a supermarket chain, almost immediately, but had recently moved jobs to a health food shop in Birmingham, as he lived a half mile from the shop and the commute was better. He'd only been there for a week when he'd turned up at the hospital.

The doctors believed that his head injury was to blame for his memory loss, but they were the ones at a loss when it came to determining when or if he would ever remember. He had photos of his parents and their friends, but he didn't know which was which. He knew the redheaded woman was his mother, she was frequently the only woman in a picture holding a baby, that was labelled Rose and Kannan. His father was a little more difficult. There were three men that were in most of the pictures he had, Nigel, Jeremy and James. The question was, which was which? He'd ruled out the man with sandy brown hair, as Kannan had much darker, almost black hair. One of the other men had hair almost the same colour, but Kannan had riotous waves like the third man. So, the pictures were no help, there. And none of the authorities were able to locate picture Id of either Nigel or James.

The harsh buzz of the doorbell, broke Kannan from his sombre thoughts. On opening the door, he found the hall occupied by a Royal Mail postman.

"Ah, Mr Grimm? Pete downstairs said ya were in. I did nae wanna leave a notice in ya box. I needs a signature fer this." He held out a clipboard on which rested an envelope, one that Kannan hoped held his New Zealand travel and work permits.

"Oh, sure." Kannan pulled out his wallet and showed his licence, before taking the clipboard and signing on the indicated line. He'd done his a few times, now, he had permits for America, Canada, Australia and now, hopefully, New Zealand.

"Thankee, sir." The postman grinned, tucked his clipboard away and headed back down the stairs.

Kannan waved him off and went back inside. He had his paperwork to travel, he'd quit his job, his lease was up in a week and a half and his flat had come furnished. Now, there was nothing holding him back from travelling, but himself.

He pulled out an atlas from the bookshelf and opened it. Where to go first? A spike of pain from his head, reminded him that he needed to see his doctors before making too many decisions, thankfully, he had an appointment the next day.

By the time he was ready for bed, Kannan had four pages of notes on places he wanted to visit. Once for each country. But that was later, right now, he needed some painkillers if he wanted to sleep at all tonight. He sighed and pulled the blinds and curtains closed, come morning the light was going to be too painful to cope with, if he didn't.

A burst of bright red and gold fire filled the bedroom, waking Kannan and causing him to screech in shock. As his sight cleared, he saw a stunningly beautiful bird, with brilliant red and gold plumage that appeared to be on fire.

In his shock, Kannan spoke without thought. "Bloody hell, Fawkes! Don't set the covers on fire!"

Only to fall silent when he realised what he'd said.

"Fawkes? Is that what you are?" He repeated.

The bird trilled and nodded.

"Hang on. Can you… can you understand me?" Kannan's eye widened alarmingly.

The bird nodded again.

"Why are you here? What do you want with me?"

The bird twisted around on itself and pulled, and when it faces him again, it had a beak full of feathers.

"Oh, bloody hell. You're the one leaving me feathers?"

The bird trilled and dropped the feathers on the bed.

"Why the… why would you do that?"

The bird tilted its head and huffed. It turned and studied the room before flitting over to the top of a chest of drawers and clutching at a plastic bowl holding the letter tiles from his scrabble game. A flick of the bird's beak and the tiles were spread out on the floor.

"Ruddy bird." Kannan sighed and flung back the covers, ready to get up and pick up the mess.

The bird flitted to the floor and began turning tiles over but when Kannan leant down ad began to scoop them up, the bird screeched and beat at him with its wings.

"Beaten up by a bloody bird in my own bedroom, oh, that's going to look good to the coppers." He muttered but stood and sat back on his bed, watching the bird continue to turn pieces over.

After watching for a bit, Kannan realised the bird wasn't so much making a mess, as trying to spell out something.

"A bird that can spell?" He shook his head. "This is just getting weirder by the moment."

When the bird stepped back Kannan looked at the tiles laid out between them.

"It's a name." He said, flatly.

The bird trilled and nodded, before pecking at them again and looking to Kannan expectantly.

"What? What do you want me to do?"

Another peck at the tiles.

"You want me to say that name?"

The bird nodded.

"Harry James Potter." Kannan said. "Is that it?"

Nothing happened and the bird huffed.

"What? Who is Harry James Potter?"

The bird trilled and pecked, very gently, at Kannan's hand.

"Me? Oh, no, bird, not me. I'm not Harry James Potter." As Kannan said that, a shaft of pain ploughed through his head. He fell back onto his bed, drawing in a breath to scream in pain. But before he'd finished that breath, the pain was gone.

Leaving him with a head full of memories.

"Oh, fuck me, Fawkes, did you have to? That hurt." He held his head in his hand trying to relieve the pressure. Fawkes trilled softly and leant against Kannan's leg. "Oh, hell…" He whispered. "I am Harry James Potter… or I was… am I still?" He shuddered. "No, I'm Kannan, now, my name was changed magically. Ooh… I remember how… oh, I can unlock my core, I can have my magic back… oh, Fawkes, thank you, thank you." Kannan reached out and drew a hand down the phoenix's back, from his head to the base of his tail. "Now, why are you giving me feathers? I don't have a wand, anymore, it was snapped fighting Nagini."

Fawkes picked over the tiles again. He placed three feathers together and beside them spelled out the word 'STAFF**'**, while two feathers sat beside the words '**ADD YOUR BLOOD MAKE DUEL CORES**'.

"My blood, what's so special about my blood?"

Fawkes shuffled the tiles and spelt out four words '**MY TEARS'** and **'BASILISK VENOM'**.

'Oh, yeah, right, forgot that. But I can't just go to Ollivander and ask him to make me new wands." Kannan frowned. "Does he even make custom wands?"

Fawkes spelt out more words. **'NOT OLLIVANDER'** and '**BLISHWICK TECHNIC ALLEY'**.

'Okay, but I can't just walk into Diagon, Fawkes. Not after being exiled. The Aurors would arrest me, quick as a snitch."

'**NO'**, Fawkes spelt. '**HAVE NEW FACE NOT KNOWN'**, he paused for Kannan to read the tiles before shuffling them around, again, to read, '**NOT EVEN GRINGOTTS WILL KNOW THIS FACE', **followed by another shuffle and '**NOT LOOK LIKE HARRY POTTER**'.

The phoenix flew up onto the chest of drawers again and tapped his beak against the mirror above it. Kannan stood and took three steps over to stand in front of the mirror. The face that stared back at him wasn't Harry Potter. No one looking for Harry would look at Kannan, he looked far more like Sirius than he did James or Harry, even if his eyes were still the same brilliant green. His cheekbones were higher and his forehead broader, over a fine nose and lush full lips, Kannan looked more like a forties Hollywood heartthrob, more like a true Black. Not the boy-next-door looks of the Potters.

"Wow… I look nothing like Harry, anymore." Kannan breathed before his eyes widened. "I could see Hermione…"


	3. Chapter 3

_'__**NO'**__, Fawkes spelt. '__**HAVE NEW FACE NOT KNOWN'**__, he paused for Kannan to read the tiles before shuffling them around, again, to read, '__**NOT EVEN GRINGOTTS WILL KNOW THIS FACE', **__followed by another shuffle and '__**NOT LOOK LIKE HARRY POTTER**__'._

_The phoenix flew up onto the chest of drawers again and tapped his beak against the mirror above it. Kannan stood and took three steps over to stand in front of the mirror. The face that stared back at him wasn't Harry Potter. No one looking for Harry would look at Kannan, he looked far more like Sirius than he did James or Harry, even if his eyes were still the same brilliant green. But his cheekbones were higher and his forehead taller, over a fine nose and lush full lips, Kannan looked more like a forties Hollywood heartthrob, more like a true Black. Not the boy next door looks of the Potters._

_"Wow… I look nothing like Harry, anymore." Kannan breathed before his eyes widened. "I could see Hermione…"_

Kannan hurried to turn the lights on, before heading for the vintage styled steamer trunk that he kept in the base of his wardrobe, dragging it into the middle of the room. He carefully looked at it, trying to remember the order that Professor Flitwick had told him to use, once he had his memories back.

"Right, I need to hold here and place my other hand here and… _I am not Harry James Potter_." As he said the last few words, the trunk clicked and unlocked, the lid cracking open a fraction. He lifted the lid and pressed the Gryffindor part of the Hogwarts' crest that was embossed on the inside of the lid, letting a hidden compartment open and the pieces of his beautiful phoenix feather wand fall out, along with a Gringotts key.

The pieces of the wand were gently replaced in the hidden compartment and Kannan dug around in the trunk to pull out the coin pouch that held a few coins and placed his unused Gringotts' key in it. He stood and reclosed the trunk, sliding it over to the foot of the bed. Then he opened the wardrobe again and pulled out clothes and a long heavy woollen coat.

"Not exactly wizarding, but more acceptable than a jacket, I suppose. I can always stop at Madam Malkin's for a decent wizarding robe but first I have to get there." He suddenly grinned. "Well, maybe losing my job wasn't such a bad thing after all. Now, I've plenty of time to take the train to London. Once I get a wand, I can apparate back for my appointment with Dr Grey."

Fawkes trilled and flicked his tail feathers.

"Thanks, Fawkes, but if you took me that would draw too much attention."

Fawkes moved the scrabble tiles around until two new words were revealed. '**KINGS CROSS**' they read.

"King's Cross?" Kannan asked and the phoenix trilled and nodded. "I assume you mean platform 9¾? It's August, isn't the platform closed during holidays?"

Fawkes moved more tiles. '**ONLY FROM MUGGLE SIDE**'

"Ah, so the floo's are still connected and the apparition points can be used."

The phoenix nodded.

"But that could still mean there's people around, so you taking me there would be very visible. I kind of want to stay unnoticed."

'**ONLY SEE WHAT I WANT SEEN**' The tiles spelt out.

Kannan huffed a sigh. "Alright then, give me a minute to get dressed."

Fawkes trilled and flew up to roost on Kannan's bedstead.

"Hey Fawkes? I meant to ask. Why did you come to me? And how long will you be staying?" Kannan pulled on a pair of plain Black trousers and a light blue shirt, a thick woollen jumper over the top was followed by a pair of socks and his heavy work boots.

Fawkes huffed and flew back to the tiles. '**ALBUS ASK ME HELP YOU**', '**I ONLY VISITING**' and '**YOU FLY AWAY I STAY HOGWARTS MINNIE**'

"Minnie?"

'**MINERVA**'

"Professor McGonagall?" He asked, as he slung his dark woollen trench coat around his shoulders and picked up his wallet and the feathers.

Fawkes nodded.

"Would you like to take the scrabble tiles with you? You could talk to her, then. Sort of."

Fawkes sang a song of bright and happy joy.

"Okay. I'll get a basket for you to keep them in, while I'm out. For now, I'll tie them up in a handkerchief." Kannan swept up the tiles into the centre of a handkerchief and tied it off with a bit of string. "There you go, you can hold that in your claws." A trill sounded, as Kannan tucked the coin pouch into a pocket of the coat, the feathers into an inside pocket and his wallet into his hip-pocket. A warm scarf and a pair of lined leather gloves were added to the look. "Alright, Fawkes. I think I'm ready. Anything you think I've forgotten?"

Fawkes didn't answer, instead he flew up and hovered in front of Kannan, the handkerchief hanging from on foot, and trilled. There was a flash of light and a feeling of intense happiness and when the light faded, Kannan stood in an alcove on platform 9¾.

"Brilliant. Thanks Fawkes. Why don't you head back to Hogwarts for the day? I won't be heading home until later this afternoon. I'll call you when I get there." Fawkes trilled a reply to Kannan's offer and before Kannan could blink, he was gone.

Kannan took a deep breath and sent up a prayer that Fawkes was right, that no one had seen them arrive. He stepped from the alcove and headed down the platform to the public floo's.

"Morning, sir." The station attendant nodded to him.

"Good morning. How much for floo-powder to reach the Cauldron?" Kannan asked.

"Just a κnut, sir, but it'd be quicker to apparate." The attendant suggested.

"Yeah, kinda can't at the moment. Gotta get a new wand, mine had a little accident with a set of stairs. The stairs stayed in one piece, the wand didn't." Kannan grimaced.

"Ooh ouch," The elderly man winced. "Well, Ollivander's back in his shop, so you might find a match there."

"I was thinking more along the lines of custom, actually." Kannan said.

"Ah, going into the Aurors, then?"

"It's what I worked towards, all my school career." Kannan smiled. It had been, even if it wasn't what he wanted to do, anymore.

"Well, you'll be wanting Blishwick's then. Fenton Blishwick is a mistress at her craft, but expensive. Floo to the Alley directly, there's a public floo just off the Cauldron, but make sure to visit Gringotts, Fenton charges for her wands, how much depends on the cores, but usually they cost a lot." The attendant accepted Kannan's κnut and held out a pot of floo-powder.

"Oh, okay. Thanks for the warning." Kannan took a small fistful of powder and stepped into the fireplace. "Diagon Alley." He made sure to speak slowly and clearly, before tossing the powder at his feet, he wanted no repeats of the summer before his second year.

The green flames surrounded him, and he waited slightly anxiously for them to fade. This time he felt the slowing of the network as he neared his destination and readied himself to step forward. And it was a good thing he did. He stumbled on exit, but managed to keep his feet, thankfully. Off to right he could see the alley, directly opposite him was Sugarplum's Sweetshop and beside that was Potage's Cauldron shop. Kannan took a deep breath and headed off into the alley.

First stop was Gringotts and it was the one that he was the most concerned about. What if they realised that he had been Harry Potter? He could only hope they wouldn't.

Ten minutes and he was in and out of Gringotts, the goblins were either, none the wiser or they just didn't care. Given their attitude towards most wizards, it could have been either. Or both. But Kannan now had a wallet that connected to his vault, that he could access anywhere in the wizarding world with a card that he could use anywhere in the muggle world. He did warn the goblins that he was planning on travelling overseas, mostly by muggle transport, so to expect a number of large muggle transactions. They simply nodded and offered their condolences at Mr Potter's conviction and Exile.

From there, he headed straight to Blishwick's, figuring that getting started on his wands and the staff that Fawkes wanted him to have, was more important than breakfast, surely it would take the wandsmith some time to make a custom wand? And that's exactly what happened. He was walked through choosing woods for his wands and staff core, apparently staffs had a core of, in Kannan's case, phoenix feather and a core of wood to channel it, all surrounded by an outer staff-shell of a different wood to balance the combined power of the inner cores. Then there was the issue of the magical cores and Kannan explaining that he'd been told to add his own blood to the feathers that he was providing. Madam Blishwick simply nodded and produced a phial, stating that for each wand she would need thirteen drops of blood and thirty-three for the staff. Once she had the phial, he was told to come back in an hour.

He made his way back to the Cauldron, taking a seat in one of the low booths and ordering a breakfast of bacon and eggs, with tea and toast. Minutes after a tray was slid onto the table in front of him, a voice caught his attention.

"So, you're going? You're choosing them over me? Like you did with Harry?" Ron Weasley's voice was just as harsh now as it was the night that he left Harry and Hermione during the Hunt.

"They are my parents, Ron. My parents. Yes, I'm going." Hermione answered just as harshly.

"They're muggles!" Ron snarled.

"They're my parents." Hermione replied.

"They're muggles!"

"They're my parents!"

"They're muggles! You're a witch. Forget them."

"They. Are. My. Parents. I will not forget them." Hermione snarled back.

**SMACK!** The crack of Ron's hand hitting Hermione cheek created a silence in a way that their arguing hadn't.

"Leave them." Ron ordered. "You will stay here."

"No, I won't." Hermione whispered.

Ron raised a hand to hit Hermione again, only to find his wrist encircled by an unknown hand.

"That. Is. Quite. Enough. Mr. Weasley." Kannan's voice was hard and cold, enough to make Ron freeze. "Miss Granger? Please sit down. Barkeeper, please call the Aurors." He turned his head partially to speak over his shoulder before turning back to Ron. "How dare you raise a hand to a woman? Particularly, a woman holding a child."

Ron drew himself up and made an attempt to bluster, but this man scared the doxie-dung out of him.

"None of your bloody business, pal. Beat it." The redhead sneered.

"No. It very definitely **_is_** my business. Just like it's **_everyone's_** business. You **_hit_** a woman, in public, you idiot. That's just not on. What gives you the right to order someone around? Huh? Nothing, that's what."

"She's my fiancé, I can order her around, if I want." Ron blustered.

"Here, keep it. We're through." Hermione reached passed Kannan and slapped a hand into Ron's chest. As her hand withdrew, a glittering golden ring fell to the ground. "Consider yourself single."

The floo flared and three Aurors emerged, followed by the Minister for Magic.

"Excellent timing." Tom the barkeeper commented. "This idiot." He pointed at Ron. "Hit Miss Granger, while she was holding the baby."

"Mr Weasley, please tell me you didn't?" The Minister sighed rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"She wouldn't listen! I told her to stay but she's determined that she's going to Australia to find a pair of _**muggles!**_" Ron answered, too stunned that the Aurors had slapped a pair of magic-suppressing cuffs around his wrists.

"They're her parents, Weasley, she's entitled to retrieve them." The Minister replied.

"I don't give a damn _**who**_ they are, they're bloody _**muggles**_, and she's a witch, she should _**forget**_ about them." Ron snarled.

The Minister sighed and shook his head. "Miss Granger? Will you be pressing charges?"

"On the condition that I never have to speak to Ron, Ginevra or Molly Weasley again? No, I won't. But I want it noted that, that is the only reason I'm not and if they ignore that, then yes, the charges go ahead." Hermione said, lifting a fussing baby into her arms.

"Very well. Proudfoot, take Miss Granger to the DMLE, get a statement and write up a charge sheet with a conditional suspension of citation. And see to a healer for her, too, please. Savage, Williamson, take Mr Weasley to the cells, get a statement from him and try and impress on him the severity of his actions. Please remind him that this one incident, has effectively removed any chance of him entering the Auror corps and explain why that is." The Minister turned to Hermione's rescuer and his brows rose. _**"Kannan Grimm?!"**_ He gasped.

"Kingsley Shacklebolt!" Kannan replied in the same way, while still making it clear that his response was faked.

"What in the name of Merlin are you doing here? In Diagon, I mean. Last I heard you were adamant that you'd had enough of the wizarding world."

"Yes, that's so very true and this?" Kannan waved a finger in Ron's direction and then in a circle. "This is a clear reminder of that. But… I had a visitor last night, the uninvited sort."

"Magical?" Kingsley frowned.

"Oh, definitely. An… old friend." Kannan watch Kingsley's frown deepen. "Insults were thrown, words were exchanged and… well… stairs were involved and… I'm waiting on Madam Blishwick to finish up making me a set of custom wands." Kannan grimaced.

"Are you pressing charges?"

"Oh, lord, no. By the time he dropped me at King's Cross, we'd worked it all out. He's been trying to get me to do something for a while now, and I've been typically oblivious to it. The irony is, that I was already working towards it, but hadn't mentioned it to anyone. So… yeah… He was a bit put out with me."

"But he still took you to King's Cross? Why didn't he bring you straight to Diagon?" Kingsley asked, puzzled.

Kannan grinned. "I recall you once said, travelling his way was travelling in 'style', but it's a bit flashy for my taste."

Kingsley's eyes narrowed before widening in surprise. "Oh, god**_, him?_** Tends to apparate in a burst of sparks? **_That's_** who you're talking about? Him?"

Kannan laughed. "If he wasn't so inherently good, I'd have been terrified."

"I can imagine." Kingsley laughed with him. "Are you busy today? I have something that I think you need to know about. Not life threatening, just… complicated. It's actually why I came with the Aurors when Miss Granger's name was mentioned. I meant to speak to her and Mr Weasley about it, but having found you, here is far better."

"Uh… a little. Depends on how long you think this will take?" Kannan tilted his head.

"Hours, many hours."

"Crap. Well, in that case, you're just going to have to wait until after lunch."

"Kannan…"

"No, Kingsley." Kannan held up a hand. "I've a little less than half an hour and I have to be back at Blishwick's to get my wands. In an hour I have a medical appointment, given the mental injuries I had a few months ago, I need a medical certificate if I plan to travel by muggle methods, outside this country. That usually takes about an hour. After that? I can meet you."

"Ah. Fair enough. Come to my office. You know where that is, right?"

"No, but I know how to get to the Ministry. I'm sure someone there can direct me." Kannan sighed.

"I'll have someone meet you in the atrium. And I'll have something brought in for lunch, so come as soon as you can."

"It's that important?"

"It involves the Grimm family, so yes." Kingsley nodded at Kannan's raised brow.


	4. Chapter 4

_"Ah. Fair enough. Come to my office. You know where that is, right?"_

_"No, but I know how to get to the Ministry. I'm sure someone there can direct me." Kannan sighed._

_"I'll have someone meet you in the atrium. And I'll have something brought in for lunch, so come as soon as you can." _

_"That important?"_

_"It involves the Grimm family, so yes." Kingsley nodded at Kannan's raised brow._

Kannan watched the three Aurors, Ron, Kingsley, Hermione and the baby, floo away and sighed in self-directed exasperation. "Why do I do this sort of crap? Why?" He chastised himself.

"You did the right thing, young man. Before anyone else could have, yes, but you weren't alone in wanting to act, you just got there a bit quicker than the rest of us." A familiar voice told him.

Kannan turned and was face to face with a familiar elderly witch. Augusta Longbottom nodded to him formally.

"Madam Longbottom." Kannan gave her a head and shoulder bow.

"The Minister called you… Kannan Grimm, did he not?" She asked.

"He did, Madam."

"I'm not familiar with the name 'Grimm'." She didn't ask the question, but it was clearly implied. She wanted to know who he was, who his family were and why she didn't know them.

"My great grandfather was a squib, ma'am, and hidden in the muggle world by his brother and cousins, they came from the Black family. When my grandfather turned out to be magical, the cousins suggested keeping him away from the wizarding world, they were afraid Lord Black would react violently, to a squib having magical children. Grandfather continued that for the next generation, more because of the war than anything. Father? I've no idea why he had me home-schooled, but I did okay."

"Ah, that would explain a lot. I heard that you are having to replace your wand?"

"Yes, ma'am. There was an incident involving some stairs, myself and a friend… the stairs won." Kannan huffed. "He offered up a selection of magical feathers for new wands."

"Ooh, that's a generous offer. Do they match with your core?"

"Yes, ma'am, some better than others. Madam Blishwick tested them with my magic. Two were declared suitable for wands. I've just got to go and collect them." Kannan replied.

"In that case, I shan't keep you. Thank you for assisting Miss Granger. Good day, Mr Grimm." Lady Augusta dipped a slight curtsy and stepped back.

"Good day, Lady Longbottom." Kannan bowed to her and after grabbing a cold slice of toast from his plate, left the Cauldron.

In the tiny courtyard, he paused frowning, he wasn't sure if, without a wand, he could open the entrance to Diagon or not. Before he could even attempt it, the entrance opened, and a stressed George came through.

"Excuse me." George said and made to head for the Cauldron.

"Mr Weasley?" Kannan called, George turned, and Kannan continued. "If you're looking for your brother or Miss Granger, you will find they have both been escorted to the Ministry."

"What happened? Do you know?"

"They were arguing, and Mr Weasley struck Miss Granger across the face, even though she was holding a child." Kannan sighed.

"Shite. The idiot." George huffed. "He's going to be grovelling for weeks."

"I doubt that, very much. Miss Granger handed him back his ring and told him to consider himself single." Kannan corrected.

"Aw, mate. Gods, he's an idiot."

"Agreed." Kannan nodded fervently.

"Yeah, and you don't even know him." George threw over his shoulder.

"Don't I?" Kannan said, as the door closed behind George and stepped back into the ally.

In Blishwick's he gratefully took possession of two beautiful wands, holly and hawthorn spiralled together. Each slid into a holster, one on his forearm and one at his ankle. The staff was work of art, and at his request, looked more like an ornamental fighting staff, than a magical one. Both ends were tipped in a highly polished steel with the shaft being made from African Blackwood and it had twisting vines, starbursts and runes covering its entire surface. Madam Blishwick gave him a men's necklace with a magical clasp to hold the staff, after it was shrunk, as a pendant, only his magical signature would release the clasp and allow the staff to be removed and enlarged.

From there he apparated back to his little flat in Leeds to get changed into clothes suitable for the muggle world, then it was off to keep his appointment with Dr Grey.

The doctor went through the results of the last round of testing and commented on how good everything looked. Meanwhile, Kannan was thinking. Should he tell the doctor, or not? Should he resolve the amnesia issue? By the time the doctor had completed his review of Kannan's tests, test-by-test, Kannan had reached a decision. When he asked Kannan if he'd had any more headaches, Kannan slowly nodded.

"Is there anything else, Kannan? Any more headaches?" Eric Grey asked.

"Actually, there is, two things in fact." Kannan tried hard not to smirk, but given the look on Eric's face, he lost that battle.

"Kannan?"

"I had a headache, yesterday… actually yesterday **_was_** a headache, from start to finish." Kannan shrugged. "The place where I work, it got sold recently, right? And we got a new manager, Beth Lincoln. After listening to her badmouth a customer yesterday, with the headache that had been building all morning, I lost my temper and called her a number of not very polite things."

"I think I can imagine that." Eric laughed. "You don't tolerate that very well, do you?"

"Nope." Kannan grinned. "But when I finished dishing the abuse back, I pulled my apron off, slammed it on the counter, called her an evil harpy and told her I quit."

"Quit? Whoa, Kannan, really?" Eric's eyes popped wide open, something that the relaxed doctor rarely did.

"Yep and I don't regret it. I went home and spent the afternoon staring into space, trying to figure out what I'm going to do next. I've got travel and work permits for Canada, America, New Zealand and Australia. I'm going travelling. But…"

"But?" Eric tilted his head and looked at Kannan, sideways.

"I was putting off making a decision. The headaches, you know."

"There are a few more tests we can do." Eric offered.

"Nah… Not necessary. I went to bed last night, but was woken up by a flash of lightning, at the time wasn't sure if it was real or in my head. Then the pain started. But before I could scream… and that's how bad it hurt… it was gone. Completely and utterly gone. Once I sat up and I realised that … doc, I can remember…"

"Remember? Remember what?" Eric asked.

"Everything. I remember everything." Kannan nearly bounced in his seat.

It took Eric a few moments to realise the significance of Kannan's words. "Oh… wow… Everything?" He gasped.

"Everything." Kannan nodded.

"Do you need to speak to the police?"

"No, it's all good." Kannan waved the offer away.

"Tell me. Tell me about Kannan Grimm." Eric sat forward, his pen poised to take notes. "How far back can you remember?"

"I remember being taken from my parents' house." Kannan said. "Sort of, anyway. Flashes of that."

"Do you think you could identify the person that took you?"

"I could but it would be pointless. He's dead, he died last year. Heart failure." That was the closest to the Killing Curse that any muggle explanation could manage.

"You knew him? You kept track of him?"

"Kinda. He… it was a bit of a mess really. He thought both my mother and father had died in the house invasion, but my… father hadn't. The old man ordered one of his flunkies to take me from the house and give me to him. He took me to a distant relative's place and left me with them. They weren't pleased and treated me pretty badly."

"Kannan, it might be good to speak to the police." Eric warned.

"It's all dealt with, doc. It was all sorted before I was hurt and no, they weren't involved in that, that was a case of mistaken identity." Kannan denied.

"Kannan."

"Let me finish, doc, you'll understand more. So, like I said I was treated badly, but my… relatives weren't actually abusive, more negligent. The man of the house, I refuse to call him Uncle or any other family title, he would have been abusive, if he'd thought he could have got away with it, but he knew that the old man had contacts in the neighbourhood, so I was neglected, more than anything. It wasn't until I went to the same school that my parents had gone to that anyone realised who I was and worked out that my father was alive. There were some extenuating circumstances, that involves government classification, so I can't speak to much about them, but it took a couple of years, before my father was located and I was returned to him. My… relatives were only too glad to see the back of me."

"Whoa…" Eric whispered.

"When my father was killed?" And how easy was it to speak of Sirius as his father? "The school's Headmaster put in a good word and I went into the halfway house. At least for the summers, the rest of the year, I spent at boarding school." Kannan huffed. "I left school last year, moved in with some friends and got a job. I'd only just got a place of my own when I was attacked by a group of young thugs."

"Kannan?"

"It's cool, the minute they saw my Id, they panicked. They thought I was their mate's cousin, he had a bad rep, for theft and attacking young kids. They figured on teaching him a lesson. But I'm not him." He wasn't Harry Potter, not anymore.

"And they panicked and brought you to a hospital?"

"And the rest, as they say, 'is history'. I woke up four days later, with no memory." Kannan sighed.

"Ah." Eric nodded. "That explains a lot."

"Doesn't it just?" Kannan laughed.

"So, what is next for Kannan Grimm?" Eric asked.

"A friend's off to Australia next week. I'm going to see if I can get everything sorted and go with her."

"Her? A girlfriend?" Eric waggled his eyebrows, causing Kannan to laugh.

"I wish. No, Mi's been one of my best friends for years."

"Ah. How did she react to your injuries?"

"I haven't told her, yet. Not really, there's a meeting set up, for lunch. Or as soon as I finish here."

"Ouch."

"Oh, you have no idea. Mi's got the wickedest right hook."

"Ooh… yeah, you can have that one all to yourself, Kannan." Eric grimaced.

"Eh, it could be worse. At least with the excuse of a recent head injury, I'm not likely to get hit. Ranted at? Oh, yes, I'm sure there'll be ranting and demands for explanations, but… no, I'm not likely to get hit."

Eric laughed. "Rants you can live through, right?"

"Right." Kannan grinned. "So… I'm sort of hoping that you'll pass me for international travel. Please?" Kannan pulled out all the stops on the Potter Puppy EyesTM.

"Oh, stop." Eric laughed. "Stop with the begging eyes." He waved his notepad at Kannan. "I'll write something up, this evening and you can pick it up, anytime from tomorrow morning. Alright?"

"Yes!" Kannan threw his arms in the air and cheered.

"Good grief, you're as excitable as a Labrador, aren't you?" Eric was still chuckling.

"Yep. My father's best mate used to call me pup." Kannan rocked his shoulders from side to side, swinging his fists in front of him, in a seated version of a happy dance.

"Oh, hell." Eric groaned. "Oh, go on, get out of here. But…? I expect letters to let me know how life is treating Kannan Grimm. Got it?"

"Got it, doc." Kannan bounced to his feet, shook the man's hand and was gone.

"Holy hell, that was a difference." Eric spent a few minutes writing up his notes and adding the letter to his after-patient worklist, before calling the next patient in.

"Mrs Jones?" He greeted the elderly woman, putting Kannan out of his mind.

Kannan apparated to the red telephone box that was the street entry to the Ministry of Magic, pressed the necessary number and answered the recording. He took the badge and pinned it to the front of his trench coat and waited for the lift to open, depositing him in the atrium. He stepped out of the cramped space, only to be greeted by a familiar face.

"Would you be Kannan Grimm?" Percy Weasley asked.

"I am." Kannan nodded, he wasn't Harry Potter, not anymore.

"Oh, good. The Minister is waiting for you." There was a hint of censure in Percy's voice, but nothing like the disapproval he'd expressed in the past.

"So, he said." Kannan replied, blandly, ignoring that censure.

"This way, please. You'll need to have your wand weighed before entering the Ministry, officially."

"Yes, I expected that."

"You've been here before?" Percy asked, attempting to make small-talk while they waited to have Kannan's wand weighed.

"Yes, but I was younger, so some things slipped my attention."

"Ah, well at least you've an idea." He paused as Kannan laid his wand on the scale and the security guard waved his probe around Kannan's body. Kannan was quite glad he had left his second wand at home, before coming here. The guard grunted and nodded at the wand, indicating to Kannan to retrieve it. "Thank you." Percy nodded to the guard and gestured to the gates that were the entrance to the Ministry's offices. "This way, Mr Grimm." And proceeded to lead him into the rabbit warren that was the underground Ministry.

Down this corridor, into that lift, along this hall, another lift, another corridor and into a large office-cum-waiting room.

"If you would take a seat, Mr Grimm, I shall inform the Minster of your arrival." Percy stated.

Kannan just nodded, trying to figure out what Kingsley had meant when he's said this involved 'the Grimm family'.

"Kannan." Kingsley's deep voice filled the office. "Come on in." The Minster turned to Percy. "That will be all, Percy. But I'd appreciate it, if you would locate Miss Granger and either bring or send her to conference room three, in about an hour, please?"

"Yes, Minister." Percy nodded and left the offices.

"Come on, Kannan, come in and we'll catch up. There's a few things we need to talk about." The Minister said.

"That sounds… ominous." Kannan screwed up his nose in dislike.

"Well… yes and no. Ominous, yes, but I do think you'll be pleased." Kingsley wore a secretive grin.

"No. I don't like the sound of that…" Kannan grimaced.

"Have a seat." Kingsley waved at the grouping of armchairs. "Let's keep this as informal as we can, huh?"

"Please." Kannan sat in a chair that reminded him very much, of the club armchairs from the Gryffindor common room. "Were you a lion?" He asked, suddenly curious.

"Good call. I was." Kingsley chuckled.

"Alright, Kingsley, enough with the chatter, what's this all about? You mentioned the Grimm family. Why?"

Kingsley put a sealed phial on the coffee table. "That's a calming draught, Kannan, you're going to need it." All humour was gone from his voice.

Kannan studied the older man, before sighing and picking up the phial and reading the label. "From Hogwarts potions store?" He asked, recognising the spiky writing.

"There's very few good potioneers out there, Snape may have been an asshole, but man knows how to brew."

"Still made them taste bad, though." Kannan cracked the seal and swallowed the mouthful of pale blue potion.

"Thank you." Kingsley sighed. "This is going to upset you no matter how many draughts you've had." He waved off Kannan's raised brow. "You were… your sentence started on the 3rd of May. A little over six weeks later, there was a… disturbance."

"And you didn't feel the need to contact me?"

"At the time, yes, definitely, but I only received approval to contact you this morning."

"Go on." Kannan waved his hand in a circle.

"Okay, I'm going to do this in order, alright?" Kingsley asked and Kannan simply nodded.

"Good. You were the 3rd of May. Miss Granger, Professor McGonagall and I pressed for a posthumous trial for Sirius Black, as per your requests. We presented your memories and those of Miss Granger that proved Peter Pettigrew was alive, as late as 1996, we left out his death during the incident at Malfoy manor. We also presented documents from the goblins and the Wills of James and Lily Potter that clearly stated the Black was a decoy and that Pettigrew was their Secret Keeper. There was little objection, Black was cleared, and Pettigrew stripped of his order of Merlin."

"Thank you…" Kannan whispered.

"Not at all, it should have happened much sooner, and I can only say I'm sorry it didn't. Sirius Black was cleared of all charges on the 16th of June. On the 18th of June, quite early in the morning, the DoM sent me a message, requesting an urgent meeting, in the head Unspeakable's office. Upon my arrival I was questioned as to my knowledge of Sirius Black and after providing them with sufficient information, I was informed that… well… there's no easy way to say this…"

"Spit is out, Kingsley, stop beating around the bush." Kannan snapped.

"Sirius Black was ejected from the veil, exactly two years and two minutes after he was cast into it." Kingsley grimaced as he said it.

"Excuse me? Could you repeat that?" Kannan said, blankly.

"Sirius Black was ejected from the veil, exactly two years and two minutes after he was cast into it." Kingsley obediently repeated.

"Yes… That's what I though you said." Kannan whispered.

"That **_is_** what I said."

"Sirius… Sirius is… alive…?"

"He is, he's not well yet, but he's far better than he was, he spent two weeks in a magical coma and his recovery has been slow but consistent. He's been asking for you, so, I've been working hard to get your sentence deferred, for services rendered. I received that approval, this morning. Hence me following the Aurors when Miss Granger's name was mentioned. I had intended to tell her and send her to bring you here, so we could lift your binds, completing your sentence and reuniting you with your godfather." Kingsley finished.

"But I was already there."

"You were. So, that enabled me to change plans a little. Black's been given the same alterations that you received, making him, Padraig Nyle Grimm, your father's brother."

"They were as close as brothers." Kannan whispered, meaning James, not Nigel.

"They were."

"What are your plans for him? For us?"

"Miss Granger has notified the Ministry of her intent to travel to Australia, by muggle means. She has yet to purchase her ticket and I've asked her to wait until after we meet with her this afternoon, stating that there may be two other wizards travelling and with one of them still not fully recovered from the war, having the three of you travel together would provide a buffer with the muggles."

"Good excuse." Kannan nodded. "So, you want us to go with Mione?"

"I do. Whether you return is up to you, but Blac- Padraig needs time to recover and St. Mungo's finest and Madam Pomfrey have said that he needs a warm, stress-free environment for the rest of his recovery." Kingsley answered.

"And he's not going to get that here." Kannan stated the obvious.

"No." Kingsley nodded. "Take him away. If not Australia, then the South Pacific or some other tropical location. It's spring in the southern hemisphere, their spring is warmer than our summer, usually. Take him and help him get better. I'll provide a set of linked portkeys for medical-"

"A set of what?" Kannan asked, interrupting.

"A set of linked portkeys. You know what a portkey is?" Kingsley waited for Kannan to nod. "Good. Linked portkeys are a set of three or in this case, four keys. Two base keys and two transporting keys. One base key will be in the hospital at Hogwarts while the other is with you. You tap your base key and activate is, Madam Pomfrey places her base key in her office and activates it. She then simply touches it with her foot and activates a transporting key, she will be portkeyed to your base key. You will have the second transporting key, in case of emergency, all you would need to do to portkey to Hogwarts is to touch your base key and activate the transporting key."

"Handy."

"Very." Kingsley smiled. "Right now, there are only a dozen people, maybe, that know Black was ejected from the veil and of them only three of us know that Sirius Black became Padraig Grimm. Not including you."

"Who?"

"That know he was ejected from the veil? Malfoy, Augusta Longbottom, McGonagall, Pomfrey, three healers from St. Mungo's, Alexander Fawley, Torrance Ollivander, Croaker and one of his Unspeakables and myself."

"Torrance Ollivander?" Kannan touched the tip of his wand.

"No, not the wand maker, but Garrick's older brother." Kingsley shook his head. "Padraig will need a new wand, we retrieved his original from the evidence locker and while he can use it, it's no longer a perfect match."

"Has his appearance been altered?"

"Yes. Why…?"

"I can take him to Blishwick's for custom wands." Kannan said.

"Oh… I hadn't thought of that. Yes, that would work well." Kingsley nodded. "Perhaps Miss Granger should do the same?"

"Probably." Kannan nodded. "When did you tell Percy to take her to the conference room?"

"I said an hour, but I'd like to reunite you with Bla- Padraig, first."

"I'd like that very much." Kannan let a tear run down his cheek.


	5. Chapter 5

_"Then I can take him to Blishwick's for custom wands." Kannan said._

_"Oh… I hadn't thought of that. Yes, that would work well." Kingsley nodded. "Perhaps Miss Granger should do the same?"_

_"Probably." Kannan nodded. "When did you tell Percy to take her to the conference room?"_

_"I said an hour, but I'd like to reunite you with Bla- Padraig, first."_

_"I'd like that very much." Kannan let a tear run down his cheek._

Kannan sat in the conference room, his leg jiggling up and down, nervously. He was waiting for Kingsley to return with Sirius.

Who wasn't Sirius anymore, just like he wasn't Harry anymore. Talk about a mind bender.

He heard footsteps coming closer, one set strong and firm while a second set seemed softer. The door opened and Kingsley stepped in, holding the door for a second man. Kannan's eyes sought and clung to this man.

It was Sirius… but at the same time, it wasn't.

"Kannan. This is Padraig. "

"Hey…" Padraig whispered.

"Hey Pads." Kannan let his arms reach for the confused man. "I missed you, you irresponsible mutt." He hugged the man tight before loosening his arms and guiding the man to a seat.

"Huh?" Padraig frowned. "I know you're helping out, but… you do get that I wasn't born with the name Padraig, right?"

"Of course. But I could say the same." Kannan grinned.

Padraig looked at him, blinking as he tried to work it out. "I give up. Who are you?"

"Now? I'm Kannan Grimm, your nephew. Before that? Even then, I was the closest thing you had to a nephew."

"But…" Padraig eyes widened, as he made the connection. "You… Harr… but… what the hell...**_ pup?!"_** Padraig leant back in his seat, looking at Kannan in shock before turning to Kingsley. "I thought Harry was Exiled? Did you get approval to end his sentence?"

"I did, but I didn't get much of a chance to act on that. I had thought to inform Miss Granger and let her bring him in. But I didn't get any further than the Cauldron, Kannan was there having breakfast." Kingsley replied.

"I was filling in time while Blishwick's made my new wands." Kannan added.

"Hold up." Padraig held up a hand. "How…? They bound your memories and core. How did you get them back?"

"I had a little help… in the form a most unusual bird." Kannan hedged.

"A bird?" Padraig exclaimed. "What type of bird?"

"A bird that belonged to an old friend of ours. You remember the twinkly old bugger, the one that never really answered when you asked a question?" Kannan answered, by providing a description rather than a direct answer.

"Oh…" Padraig huffed in surprise. "Kingsley says the bat got him."

"Kind of. Yes, the bat got him, but it was on his orders, not the bat's choice."

"Why?"

"He'd picked up one of the snake's things and it cursed him, he was dying, the idea was that the bat would secure his position with the snake. But the stupid old idiot didn't tell anyone, but the bat. So, we all assumed the bat had turned."

"But he hadn't?"

"Nope, very definitely not. He was mum's, from the moment snaky threatened her, the bat changed sides." Kannan assured him.

"Well… I wasn't expecting that." Padraig huffed.

"What were you expecting then?" Kannan grinned.

"I have no idea, pup. What… What happens now?"

"We're waiting on Mione. Then we'll made a few decisions. Kingsley tells me the healers want you to go somewhere warmer for the rest of your convalescence." Kannan started.

"Yes, that what I'm told, too."

"Well, Mione obliviated her parents and sent them to Australia. Kingsley's thinking that you and me will go with her, maybe stay there, maybe not." Kannan paused. "Did you hear about this morning?"

"No… what happened this morning?"

"Shite… Um… Ron and Mione were in the Cauldron, arguing like normal. About Mione going to get her parents. Ron was set against it. The argument escalated and Ron… Ron… he hit her…" Kannan whispered.

"He what?" Padraig voice was hard.

"He hit her. I stopped him when he went to hit her a second time. He snarled and she handed him back his ring and told him to consider himself single."

"She is pressing charges, isn't she?"

"No, but only if Ron, Ginny and Molly stay away from her."

"Why? What did they do?"

"Beats me." Kannan shrugged. "Kingsley? Do you know?"

"Ah, that was hushed up."

"What happened?" Padraig growled.

"The day after the battle, while Kannan was still sorting out what was going to happen with vaults and the like, Molly tried to sneak a lust potion into his drink, Ginny had already taken a fertility potion."

"They what?!" Padraig screeched.

"Was that when Malfoy kicked them out?" Kannan asked.

"Yes, the potion and charm detectors in the DMLE holding area, picked up a mind-altering substance. They were both charged, even though Molly was the one to come up with the plan, her idea was for Ginny get seduce Harry, become pregnant with his child and get her happily ever after family, that way. Molly is prohibited from brewing most potions, she has a list of approved potions and if she deviates from that list, she faces time in Azkaban. Ginny was charged with attempted line theft, but as she still underage, even if only by a few months, she had her core bound and was expelled. Her wand wasn't snapped, as she only received a five-year sentence, partially due to the fact that she wasn't thinking about stealing from Harry, she only wanted his child and partially as she agreed to weekly visits with a muggle-trained mind healer from St. Mungo's. She should have seen someone after her first year, but Dumbledore convinced Molly that it wasn't necessary. It was and it's made a difference, already." Kingsley told them. "But it created a rift in the family. Arthur supported Molly and Ginny, he couldn't see a reason for Ginny not getting what she wanted, as Harry would have eventually married Ginny, anyway. Percy went with them. Bill, Charlie and George supported Harry, saying that it should have been Harry's choice and they tried to take that away from him. Ron stayed neutral, he and Hermione both refused to take sides. This morning may have changed that."

"Oh, it will." Kannan said. "It's only a matter of how."

"What do you mean?" Padraig asked.

"Well… Bill and George… and probably Charlie, seeing as Bill had so much influence on him. They're good men, they don't stand for abuse, or being cruel. That's probably why they didn't support Ginny. And why they'll support Hermione, after this. Nothing to do with m- with Harry." Kannan said. "It's all to do with them being inherently good people."

"Ah." Kingsley nodded. "I see. Well it could be the ingredient the blew-up the potion, for them."

"Why" Kannan asked.

"George isn't happy, he said everything reminds him of Fred and Fred's not there. Bill got fired from Gringotts for breaking his contract of non-involvement, got a good payout, but the goblins had no options, the contract was magically bound. And Charlie's already been offered a position in New Zealand as Second-in-Charge of their dragon rescue facility. If they back Hermione over Ron, Arthur may make it formal and cast them from the family." Kingsley answered.

"Oh, geez…" Kannan whined. "Weasley's are better at drama than even the blasted Malfoys."

Padraig snorted. "Hell, yes."

Before anything else could be said, more footsteps were heard in the hall, followed by a tapping at the door.

"Come." Kingsley's deep voice boomed.

The door opened. "Minister? You wished to speak to Miss Granger." Percy's face was tight, and his lips thinned in anger.

"I did, Percy, thank you. You may return to your office. This meeting will take many hours and Miss Granger, or Kannan can take any notes that are needed."

"Certainly, Minister." Percy opened the door wider and gestured abruptly for Hermione to enter, before closing the door a little harder than necessary.

"I'm going to guess that he knows about this morning and isn't happy about it?" Kingsley said.

"Yes." Hermione replied shortly, crossing to a seat. She dropped her beaded bag on the table and settled the baby in her arms a little more securely, before sitting down. "What do you want, Kingsley? I've got a lot of things to do and I still need to buy tickets for Teddy and me, for the flight to Australia."

"Actually, that partially what I wanted to talk to you about." Kingsley said.

"Partially?" Hermione picked up on the odd phrasing.

"Partially. Allow me to introduce Kannan Grimm, he was your rescuer this morning, and his Uncle Padraig Grimm. "

"Good morning." Hermione greeted them.

"Hello." Padraig nodded.

While Kannan grinned. "Hey."

"I take it that they're also part of what you wanted to speak to me about?" Hermione frowned at Kingsley.

"They are. Kannan? Why don't you explain to Miss Granger, who you were, how you met, that sort of thing?" Kingsley answered.

"Hmm… Where to start?" Kannan bit his lip in thought.

"The beginning is usually a good place." Hermione said, a little bit of sarcasm leaking into her voice.

"Yeah, we're not going that far back." Kannan shook his head. "Let's try… '94? Yeah, that should work. Let's see… what did you say? Oh, yes, 'awful things happen to wizards that meddle with time' and then a few minutes later, you asked, 'is that really what my hair looks like from the back?' Oh, there were a few other things, too, but that should get you thinking." He grinned at her and the look of confusion on her face. Confusion that slowly turned to understanding, then to shock, before settling in disbelief. "Ask me something, something only I, or the person I'm suggesting I was, should know."

Hermione glared at him. "If you are… him, what did you say when you stood in front of your… their grave?"

"Merry Christmas, Hermione." Kannan answered.

"Where did yo- he say, 'you've outdone yourself, this time, Hermione'?"

"Forrest of Dean. You went there once with your mum and dad, it was just how you remembered it, the trees, the river, everything."

"How did the wand break? And what did you say?" She asked.

"As we were leaving godric's Hollow, you cast a curse and it rebounded. You tried to fix it, but wands are different. I replied, 'it's done… leave me yours', it was my turn to sit watch."

"You… you… I should hex you…"

"Not while you're holding a baby, Mione. Which raises the question. Why are you holding the baby?" Kannan replied.

"Oh, dear…" Hermione grimaced.

"Hermione?" Kannan's voice went flat. "Why do you have Teddy?"

"Who is Teddy?" Padraig asked.

Hermione and Kannan exchanged wide eyed looks, before they both turned to Kingsley.

"You didn't tell him?" Kannan squawked.

"No, not all of it." Kingsley answered.

"Why the bloody hell not?" Kannan snarled.

"He wasn't ready. The healers are still not sure he's ready."

"Well, we really don't have much of a choice, now, do we? Give him a blasted calming draught, Kingsley." Kannan's snarl deepened to an almost growl.

"Here." Hermione handed over a phial from her bag.

"Pads, take it." Kannan ordered and after looking at the young man with alarm, Padraig reached out a trembling hand and accepted the phial, unstoppering it and drinking the contents. Kannan waited for the loosening of Padraig's shoulders before continuing. "After the DoM, Pinky was Moony's support, she was right there for everything. She was goo-goo over him and I think he was enamoured with the idea of her and being a couple, but he did have a few rough patches about it."

"Yeah, he would have." Padraig snorted.

"When the old club came to get me, the month before I turned seventeen, Pinky told us, they'd eloped. Teddy was born the following April, a week before Easter. They asked me to be his godfather and Hermione to be his godmother."

"He's… he's… he's Moony's **_son?!"_** Padraig squawked, gaping at the four-and-a-half-month-old baby.

"He is." Hermione sighed.

"So, why have you got him?"

"You know that Moony died at Hogwarts? Right?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, Kingsley gave me a list of the fallen." Padraig said sadly.

"Right, well, Pinky's mother wasn't coping, she fell apart, went crazy, whatever you want to call it. She was admitted to St. Mungo's, to the permanent care ward. And Kingsley had her give Teddy to me. Molly whinged that she should have him, she's got more experience with children, but Teddy screamed his head off whenever she came near him, and add to that, her trying to dose you? No, Kingsley made sure he came with me. It did help that I'm his godmother." Hermione sighed.

"And that's another issue we need to delve into. As far as both the muggles and the WFS are concerned, Teddy doesn't exist. Remus did, Tonks did, but due to the war and Remus' lycanthropy, they didn't register Teddy at all." Kingsley told them. "He'll be considered a muggleborn, because of that."

"I don't suppose that we could… doctor his records before backdating his registry?" Kannan screwed up his nose.

"Hmm…" Kingsley hummed in thought. "I suppose we could but…? Who would he become? Not to mention that we'd be taking his heritage from him."

"Kingsley, you know as well as I do, that as the son of a werewolf, Teddy has less value to the British wizarding world than a muggleborn." Kannan huffed. "Both his parents were half-bloods, Pinky-"

"Why are you calling Tonks, Pinky?" Hermione asked.

"I don't want to use names, Mione, we don't know who's likely to take offence." Kannan answered.

"But-"

"Umbitch." Was all Kannan had to say, to have Hermione huff and nod.

"Fair enough."

"Thank you. So, Pinky's mother is a pureblood, while her father was a muggleborn. Moony's father was the pureblood while his mother was a muggle."

"Yes, that's right." Padraig nodded. "What's the plan, pup?"

"We will always remember Moony and Pinky. But Teddy needs more family than just a godmother and a godfather. He needs a father." Kannan said.

"Pup?"

"How would you like a son, Pads? Your condition could easily be attributed to the war, not the… arch. That would give him a living father and a cousin, me that is. And of course, Mione is his godmother, who's been caring for him while you are recovering from injuries received in a battle during war." Kannan said. "Once he's older, enough to know to keep quiet on the subject, we can put together a whole heap of memories for him to watch in a pensieve, that way he can still get to know his 'other' parents."

"That…" Padraig breathed.

"That just might work." Kingsley nodded. "We'd need to find a suitable mother, someone that died around the same time as Nym- Pinky."

"We could.. but I had a different idea." Kannan grinned. "Keeping it in the family, let's go with adoption, instead. Pads wanted a son,he's been on the waiting list to adopt a muggleborn orphan, so when his cousin Nymphadora, died, Pads approached Kingsley and Hermione about adopting Teddy. It stops Molly from trying to claim that Hermione isn't capable of caring for Teddy."

"Ooh, yes, that would work." Hermione sat forward and adjusted Teddy in her arms. "We could that Padraig has been in contact with Ton- Pinky and Moony. Do you think we could get a falsified muggle-lodged Will in place? And what about…?"

For the next few hours, the three wizards and one witch laid out a plan and the paperwork needed to support it, then Kingsley called in a pair of deeply shrouded beings from the DoM. The Unspeakables did whatever is was that they needed to, but when they left the conference room, they left behind a father and his son, his son's godmother and godfather, the later also being his own nephew.

Due to Padraig's ill health, Teddy lay in his godmother's arms, while his cousin, Kannan, provided whatever physical support Padraig needed. Teddy was named Theodore Remus, after the father of woman that donated eggs for his conception and her husband. It would be easily accepted, especially seeing as both were fallen heroes of the Battle of Hogwarts.

"Excellent." Kingsley said. "Now, St. Mungo's have released Padraig, he's under the care of Madam Pomfrey. Where are you going to stay? If you're going to accompany Hermione to Australia, next week, you'll only need somewhere to stay for this week."

"Me." Kannan said. "I've a two-bedroom flat, they can stay with me. Mione can have one room and Pads, Teddy and I can share the other. Particularly, as we can add a minor expansion charm, something that requires a pass-phrase to dismiss, that way we know it won't collapse, accidentally. It's only a week, after all."

"That would be good." Hermione said.

"There'll always be a space for you in my life, Mione. Never doubt that." Kannan gave her a soft smile.

"Thank you, Ha- Kannan." She caught herself before she finished the first name, then frowned. "You're going to have to charm me to remember that you're Kannan, now."

"I'll do that before we leave." Kannan said, nodding.

Footsteps came down the hall.

"That's likely to be Bill and George." Hermione said. "I asked them to go to the Burrow and get my stuff, I'm not going back there to be hit again."

The footsteps stopped at the door and someone knocked.

"Come." Kingsley called.

The door opened and a clearly disgruntled Percy Weasley stepped in. "I apologise for the interruption, Minister, but Mr William Noname and Mr George Noname insisted on attending Miss Granger, immediately." Padraig and Kannan sucked in a sharp breath at Percy's sneer when he said Bill and George's names.

"That's fine, Percival. George, Bill, come in, please. You may go, Percival, I shan't be needing you, again today." Kingsley's voice was cold, but Percy was oblivious to the icy response.

"Of course, Minister." Percy nodded to the Minister and closed the door behind him, but not before Kannan saw the expression of anger on his face.

"Come in, gentlemen, and sit down." Kingsley directed.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked, reaching a hand out towards George.

"They disowned us." Bill whispered. "They cut us from the family, when we turned up to get your things."

"They took our names from us." George whispered.

"They even disowned Fred, just to make sure that George has no connection to them." Bill looked lost.

Kingsley sighed. Padraig closed his eyes, seemingly in pain. Hermione gritted her teeth to stop from saying something, that she wouldn't be able to retract. While Kannan growled low and viciously.

"Here goes, nothing." Padraig took a deep breath. "I, Padraig Nyle Grimm, eldest living member of the Family Grimm, do herby claim the title of Head of our House. May Lady Magic hear my plea and judge me worthy of her blessing." The others looked on in shock as a brilliant golden light surrounded Padraig, before slowly fading. "Well…" He said. "I guess that worked." He looked to Kannan. "It's your call, pup. I can adopt them as sons, nephews, brothers. Yours or mine."

Kannan looked at George. "How would you like your silent investor as a brother? Or would you rather have Padfoot as a father?"

George gawked at him. "Har-?"

"I'm Kannan, now, but I'm still your silent partner." Kannan cut him off. "Don't say the name, we don't know what ears are listening."

"If you're Ha- were him, who was he?" George pointed at Padraig.

"He was the one to give me the firebolt." Kannan answered.

George and Bill blinked as they thought through what that meant. Bill realised it first and his jaw fell open in shock. George figured it out a few moments later.

"Holy crap…" The older redhead gasped.

"What he said." George jerked a thumb in Bill's direction.

"What about Charlie?" Hermione asked. "Where is he? Did they disown him, too?"

"He's at the shop, but… Yeah…" Bill sighed. "Him, too. Just because we didn't agree with them."

"Kingsley, we need a floo connection to the shop. Now." Padraig demanded.

"There's a floo-fireplace here, but no floo powder, I'll go and get some from the reception desk." Kingsley said. "Be back in a few."

"Thanks." Padraig turned to the redheads, again. "So, who's going where?"

"I'll be Kannan's brother." George said.

"I think Charlie and I would prefer to be your brothers, I would, anyway. Charlie could go either way."

"We'll ask him, which he'd prefer." Kannan said.

"I Padraig Nyle Grimm, head of House Grimm, do welcome George Fabian and Fredrick Gideon Noname into my family, I claim them as sons to my brother Nigel Patrick Grimm. They shall be brothers to my nephew, Kannan Evan Grimm. To them Kannan shall be brother. As I offer, so do I swear. George Fabian, do you accept my offer?"

"I, George Fabian, on behalf of myself and my deceased twin, Fredrick Gideon, do accept the offer from Padraig, head of House Grimm. We shall be brothers to Kannan. As I accept, so I do swear."

A soft flare of blue-ish purple lightning arced from Padraig to George and from George to Kannan. George's hair darkened from his normal burnished copper to a warm chocolate brown with streaks of copper and his eyes faded from dark brown to light brown streaked with Kannan's brilliant green.

Kingsley re-entered the room, holding a pot of floo powder.

"Who's going to do this? Just be aware that from this room, you will only have call capabilities, no transporting." Kingsley told them.

"I'll call and explain it." Bill said. "Give me five minutes. Please?"

"Go for it." Padraig waved at the floo-fireplace and Bill took the floo-powder from Kingsley.

Ten minutes later, when they all left the conference room, Padraig had with him a son and two brothers, two nephews and his son's godmother.


	6. Chapter 6

_Ten minutes later, when they all left the conference room, Padraig had with him a son and two brothers, two nephews and his son's godmother._

Disembarking from their plane in Brisbane, the Grimm family, plus Hermione, made their way towards the customs and security.

"Miss Granger?" A young man approached Hermione.

"Yes?" She replied, cautiously.

"Oh, good, I got the right person. Miss Granger, if you and your party would come this way, we'll get you sorted." He moved his hand against his opposite wrist drawing Hermione's attention to the wand-tip just peeking out of a disillusioned holster.

"Oh, yes, yes, of course." Hermione hitched a sleeping Teddy up in her arms and tried to swing her shoulder tote around enough to allow her to grab at her suitcase handle.

"Here, Mione, let me take him. Kannan? Would you grab my bag?" George offered.

"Oh, thank you, George."

With that the group followed the security wizard through a door and into a surprising large and airy room.

"Welcome to Australia." The security wizard tapped his badge and his uniform changed slightly, from a long-sleeved pale blue shirt to a long-sleeved shirt, that was striped light and dark blue, an embroidered crest declared that he was an Australian MoM employee and that his name was Tim. "Let's get you sorted, huh? British MoM sent us a copy of your paperwork, first time we've had a trainee Auror do the delivery, though. Usually, it's just sent through the floo. Let's start with… Miss Granger? Are you aware of the restricted items?" Hermione nodded. "Good stuff. And do you have any of those restricted items?" Hermione shook her head. "Excellent. I'm going to do a quick scan charm of your luggage and assuming nothing shows up, you're good to go. Alright?" Hermione nodded. "Great. _Prohibitus revelare_." He waved his wand over Hermione's bag and suitcase. "That fine. I'll need to scan you, now just to make sure you've nothing in pockets or shrunken trunks and the like."

"That's fine." Hermione agreed, but that didn't stop her from tensing as Tim pointed his wand and cast the charm over her.

"No worries there. Who's next?"

"Teddy, please." Hermione held out her hands to George and he gently placed the sleeping infant back into her arms.

"Sure." Tim scanned Teddy and the bag that had a purple stuffed monkey shoved through the handles. "All good. Miss Granger, if you'd like to have a seat, I'll see to the gentlemen, now." He gestured to a row of seats, just a few feet away.

"Thank you." Hermione said. "But I think I need to get my feet back under me, twenty-two hours sitting is long enough."

"Fair enough, but please stay within this section." Tim requested and turned back to the men. "Now, you lot are different, I understand. Two of you were recently adopted into the family by the head of House?"

"Yes, George and I were born brothers, but a week ago, assault charges were brought against a member of our previous family by his ex-fiancé, that saw a disagreement arise and as a result, four of us were disowned." Bill answered.

"Four? I've only got paperwork on two. Where are the other two?"

"Charlie's in New Zealand, he's 2IC of the dragon reserve's rescue centre. And Fred… Fred died at Hogwarts." Bill whispered.

"Whoa, hold up. Let me get this straight… Your previous family disowned a son that has been deceased for four months, because of assault charges? Was he the one charged?"

"No, sir. The family sided with Ron, he was the one charged." George said.

"Then why…?"

"So that George, who's Fred's twin, would have no claim to their family, in any way." Bill replied.

"Oh, man, that's messed up. This Ron, he assaults his fiancé, the family argues, those that disagree are disowned, including a deceased member of the family, who was disowned specifically to remove any connection for a living member. Have I got that right?" Tim was hastily writing as he spoke.

"Yeah…" Bill sighed. "That's about right."

"And how did the adoptions come about?"

"Ah. Well, Hermione asked Charlie, George and I to collect her things from the family home, she didn't want to go back there. That-"

"Stop." Tim held up a hand. "What's Miss Granger got to do with this?"

"Hermione was the one Ron hit." George told Tim.

"Ah, right, hold on." Tim made a few more notes, before waving. "Go on."

"We went to get her stuff and that was when the family… when…" Bill took a deep breath, knowing that the family that he'd been born into, had deliberately acted to hurt he and his brothers, was still painful. "That was when they disowned us, our mo- our ex-mother started it, her two children and husband backed her up. We collected Hermione's things, we had to threaten to get the Aurors in, before they backed down, though. Then we went to the MoM, as we knew that Hermione was meeting with the Minister about her trip here. We-"

"Why was she meeting with the Minister? Is that common in England?"

"No, it had more to do with her parents. Hermione was one of the top three targets for the Dark faction in the war, so the Minister, before he was the Minister he was the head of the DMLE, gave permission for her parents to be obliviated and _confundused_ into thinking they had a different name and wanted to emigrate to Australia." Bill answered.

"Oh, right, yes, there's a note about that, someone from the MoM Administrations is waiting to meet Miss Granger about that." Tim made another note. "So, you headed to the MoM to meeting with Miss Granger?"

"We did. We were taken to the conference room by the last of our ex-brothers who was quite disgusted with us for not siding with the family. He made it clear on introducing us that we'd been disowned. Padraig claimed the position of head of House and then offered to adopt us. As either brothers, sons, or nephews. George decided he'd like to be Kannan's brother, they've been friends for years. Charlie and I became Padraig's brothers, we'd only met Kannan a few times and I'd known Padraig for a few years."

"And when was that?"

"Wednesday last week." Bill replied.

"And the documentation has already been completed?" Tim blinked in surprise.

"Hermione was meeting with the Minister and the adoptions happened in front of him. He saw no reason to delay, especially as Hermione wanted to find her parents. That was what got Ron in such a rage, he saw it as Hermione choosing her parents over him." Bill explained.

"Ah, that makes sense." Tim nodded. "Alright, so you heard the process. Any restricted items?"

"No. Hermione made sure of it." George answered.

"Good. I'll scan you and your luggage and assuming nothing shows up, I'll escort you to a conference area where the British MoM rep and an Aussie MoM rep are waiting for your party."

"Go for it." George tried to smile.

Tim did his thing and one-by-one the four were cleared. Kannan was glad that he'd declared his staff, as that would have been the only issue, but with declaration, he was waved aside.

"This way, if you please?" Tim gave a cheeky and overly formal bow. Kannan and George snorted, while Bill and Padraig laughed, and Hermione huffed silently. But the five, and Teddy in Hermione's arms, followed Tim across the room, through a door and down a short corridor. "Here we are." He knocked on a door and waited for a response.

"Enter." A voice called.

Inside the room the group were confronted with a familiar face.

"Neville?" Hermione and George spoke together.

"Hey, George. Hello Hermione. Fancy seeing you here." The young Gryffindor gave them a familiar grin.

"Please, if everyone would have a seat?" The other occupant of the room asked before turning to Tim. "Thank you, Mr Lucas, I can take them from here. If you would leave their clearances with reception, please?"

"Yes, sir." Tim nodded and gave each of the group a smile. "Have fun and enjoy Oz, alright?"

Each of them thanked the young wizard and he quickly left.

"Let's get down to business, I'm sure you want to get out of here and get some rest." When they nodded the, as yet, unnamed wizard nodded. "I thought so. I am Liaison Merran. My job is to help foreign magicals, during their stay in Australia. I been through the notes and read the letter that Mr Longbottom brought with him, so we don't need to hash over the details, again. Miss Granger? I've been able to track the Wilkins' from their arrival in Melbourne, through to Sydney, but the issue we're having is that there were three sets of people with the same names, having the same occupations, that arrived in Australia, all from Britain, within a three-day period and were all staying in Sydney, at the same hotel over the same time. From there it gets confusing. All three couples have gone travelling. One set went north, one west and one south. I've managed to rule out the couple that went south. They bought into a business in a small village in Tasmania, called Triabunna. The reason I've ruled them out is that the male is of African descent."

"No, that's not my father." Hermione shook her head.

"I thought not. The other two couples both hired motorhomes, so tracking them has been a little more hit-and-miss. The couple that went north have been tracked, up through New South Wales, the last place we have a confirmed location is the small seaside town of Brunswick Heads, approximately 150km or ninety miles from where we are now, that is as far as we have gotten, so far. The third couple went west. We lost track of them somewhere between Dubbo and Cobar, that's not to say anything happened to them, more that… while it's only 260km or there abouts, between the two towns, most travellers use Cobar as a travel stop and we haven't found anywhere that the Wilkins' purchased anything. That and our researcher on that lead, became ill, after having been bitten by a wasp. We suggest that you take a few days, hire a vehicle and allow us to keep trying. My lead Researcher has only had the parameters for a week now and has managed to eliminate one couple and has tracked a second couple almost eight-hundred kilometres or… hmm… about five-hundred miles. Give her a some more time and I'm sure she'll narrow it down even further."

"Thank you." Hermione sighed in relief.

"Now, as for the rest of you?" Merran said. "The only concern we have is… Can any of drive a muggle vehicle?"

Bill held up a hand. "I was a curse-breaker for Gringotts, prior to the Hogwarts battle. I can drive a car, a bus or a truck. Manual or automatic."

"I can drive a car and ride a bike." Padraig added.

"Not me." Hermione sighed. "I never got the chance.

George nodded. "Da- Arthur taught both Fred and me to drive his Anglia."

"I can ride a bike." Kannan offered. "Moony taught me… The summer I turned sixteen."

"Ah, excellent. I'll get you registered for the appropriate vehicles here. Bill, was it?" Bill nodded in answer to Merran's question. "If you don't mind me saying, I feel you're the one with the most experience in the muggle world. Am I correct?"

"Not the most experience but probably the most varied experience. Kannan lived in the muggle world, he's not a fan of the British wizarding world's attitude towards some people. And Hermione's a muggleborn." Bill corrected.

"Ah. Right. My notes do say that. My apologies, Miss Granger, I wasn't thinking. I'm going to give you the contact details of a few wizard-run vehicle hire companies. Of the four, three have large motorhomes or campervans, whichever you wish to call them, for hire. Personally, I would suggest 'Around the Bend' hires, as all their vehicles are modified magically. But of course, the choice is yours." Merran held his hand out in a gesture of openness. "Now, I understand Mr Longbottom wishes to speak to you. I'll leave you to it and will meet you outside, just call whenever you're done. Mr Longbottom?"

"Thank you, sir." Neville nodded and waited until Merran had left the room. "Hey guys." He grinned at them. "The Minister sent me with your documents and asked if I'd be your… security… I suppose. You can refuse if you like, but he'd prefer you didn't."

"Why does he think we need security?" Bill asked.

"Not sure that he does, but Hermione was assaulted recently, three of you are heroes of Hogwarts and the other two were involved in the war, one of which is still convalescing. Plus, if you accept and Auror guard, the Ministry can cover any transport costs. After all, one of the main reasons you're here, is to locate Hermione's family. Family she was forced to alter the memories of, just to keep them safe. Oh and he backdated an approval for that, otherwise it could be touchy with the Australian authorities. With me here as your security, I also have the British MoM's authority to restore those memories, which will appease the Australians. Have to do things the right way. It also means that depending on what Hermione's parents want, I can order new documents for them or order existing ones to be changed."

"I don't follow." Hermione frowned.

"Let's say… I give your parents back their memories, but they've bought a house or a business? I can authorise the alteration of the names on those purchases. But on the other hand, if they decide that they want to retain their new names, or part thereof, I can authorise their existing documentation, here and in the UK, be changed to reflect that." Neville explained.

"Oh… I see…" Hermione hummed. "Yes, that's helpful."

"It is." Neville nodded.

"Mione?"

"Yes, Kannan?"

"I want to tell Neville."

"Are you sure?" Hermione gaped.

"I'm sure. Neville was always true, both he and Luna."

"Luna's over at 'Around the Bend'. She's seeing to a bus for us." Neville said.

"A bus?" Padraig asked.

"Yes. 'Around the Bend' have magical buses, they're basically homes on wheels." Neville answered. "Not like the muggle motorhome things, but like proper houses. Kitchen, loungeroom, bedrooms, bathrooms and even laundries. They just look like a bus from the outside."

"Oh, okay."

"Nev, is that a… smart idea? Letting Luna choose our transport and accommodation?" Hermione grimaced.

"It's not so much a case of her choosing it but telling them which one you will want." Neville corrected.

"Oh, leave it be, Mione. At least there'll be no nargles." Kannan laughed.

"Nargles? Do you know Luna, then? Kannan, was it?" Neville asked.

Kannan studied Neville and nodded to Bill, who with a sigh, pulled out a wand cast the strongest privacy ward he knew off, one specific to curse-breakers.

"Thanks, Bill." Kannan gave the redhead a quick smile. "Alright, Neville. This is how is goes, I am not going to say my name, you're not going to say my name, but you will know who I was, Kingsley gave me a new name and then later new family members. Hermione is Hermione, she's the same as she always has been. Bill and George, as you know started off as members of a different family, until Padraig adopted them into the House of Grimm. But… neither Padraig nor I were born into that Family."

Neville frowned. "Then… who are you?"

"It's not a case of who **_am_** I, but a case of who **_was_** I?" Kannan said.

"Who were you…?" Neville asked cautiously. "If you're not going to say the name, how am I supposed to know?"

"Oh, you'll know." Hermione started to laugh.

"How can you be so sure?" Neville tilted his head.

"Because we know who he was." George added.

"Alright. Cast away." Neville huffed.

"She called me the youngest seeker in a century." Kannan raised a brow as Neville's jaw fell open. "Now, just to make sure, ask me something that only that person would know."

Neville looked at Kannan, thinking carefully. "I told him that I was proud to be my parent's son. What did I say next?"

"But… you're not quite ready for everyone to know, just yet." Kannan answered.

"And what did you- **_he_** say in reply?"

"We're gonna make them proud, Neville. That's a promise." Kannan repeated his own words.

"I asked a question, before opening a painting. What did I ask?"

"Let's have a bit o' fun, shall we?" Kannan grinned.

Neville stared at him, before sighing. "Oh, bugger me… Luna already knows."


	7. Chapter 7

_"She called me the youngest seeker in a century." Kannan raised a brow as Neville's jaw fell open. "Now, just to make sure, ask me something that only that person would know."_

_Neville looked at Kannan, thinking carefully. "I told him that I was proud to be my parent's son. What did I say next?"_

_"But… you're not quite ready for everyone to know, just yet." Kannan answered._

_"And what did you- __**he**__ say in reply?"_

_"We're gonna make them proud, Neville. That's a promise." Kannan repeated his own words._

_"I asked a question, before opening a painting. What did I ask?"_

_"Let's have a bit o' fun, shall we?" Kannan grinned._

_Neville stared at him before sighing. "Oh, bugger me… Luna already knows."_

"And what makes you think that?" Kannan asked, fairly sure that she did.

"Oh, this morning she was muttering about thestrals, dobbies and snowy owls." Neville replied. "Now, I know about the thestrals and the owls, but… what's a dobbie?"

"Not a what, but a _**who**_. Dobby was a house elf, caused a lot of problems during our second year, but saved our lives during the war." Hermione answered.

"Yeah, he was the one to get us out, after Luna had been kidnapped by Voldy's crew." Kannan added.

"Oh, okay. And Luna knew him?"

"Not really, that was the first and only time they met." Kannan answered. "But this is Luna, so I'm sure she knew **_of_** him, regardless."

"Okay…" Neville drawled. "So… what now?"

"Now, we get the rest of our paperwork from Merran and then go find that bus. Get out of the city, find somewhere quiet and catch our breath. Make a few plans. Places to see. Things to do." Padraig said. "Merran reckons that it could take a few weeks but warns that Australia is a heck of a lot bigger than the UK, so that estimate is erring on the low side. It could take as long as a couple of months, it's been over a year, already, tracking them is basically tracking a cold case. Well… not cold, but not fresh. All the information is a year old, smaller places might remember them, but the larger tourist friendly areas are a lost cause, too many people, too many faces. They're going to have to rely on bank records of them purchasing stuff."

"Fred always wanted to see a platypus." George tried to smile, but it slid away quickly.

"Yeah, Luna mentioned them, and something called 'a drop bear', I think?" Neville agreed.

"Alright, let's go find us a platypus and a drop bear." Pads said, waving at them with a hurry-up gesture.

The first few weeks they spent at a private magical camping resort just near Ballina, a little less than a hundred and fifty miles south of Brisbane. Long walks on the beach and lazy days spent in the sun, they lounged for the week. That's all that it could be called. Lounging.

Hermione had a massive map of Australia and each evening they would gather together and mark out the locations, that whichever set of Wilkins they were tracking had visited, according to the latest information received from Merran.

Those few weeks, no one was motivated to do pretty much anything. There were days that George didn't even get out of bed, while Pads rarely made it any further than the camping space, that was only a few yards from the surf. They'd parked the bus on it and decided that instead of putting up idividual tents, they would stay in the bus. Hermione spent a lot of time working her way through the resort's library, only to be told, by Kannan that he'd had the Potter library stored in a trunk and then Padraig asked, what had she done with the library from Grimmauld Place? Luna alternated her time between joining Hermione and wandering through the local National Park. Kannan, Bill and Neville spent most of their time playing in the sand with Teddy.

The bus was a marvellous blend of muggle technology and magic. It ran, not on fuel but on magic, a bit like the Knight Bus, but the occupants could top up its 'fuel' tank by placing a hand on the bus's frame and pulsing their magic into it. An empty 'tank' would take a hundred pulses to fill and it was recommended that it not be done by the driver, as it would leave whoever 'filled' the 'tank' quite drained if it were to be done by just one person. The inside of the bus was a single space, not unlike any other bus, behind the driver there were three rows of seats, very much like comfortable armchairs. Then it opened out in a simple living area with no windows, but there were wizard-space doorframes. Two on the passenger-side lead to a kitchen and communal bathroom. Across the rear of the buss and along the driver's-side wall there were frames that lead to private bedrooms, each with its own en-suite bathroom. Everyone had their own room, except Neville and Luna, who startled Bill and Padraig, by declaring that they were sharing, they planned to marry before returning to the UK. And of course, Teddy, who slept in the room of whoever was holding him when he fell asleep. Outside it had a large deck that expanded from a small compartment that ran half the length of the bus, giving them an outdoor space of approximately twenty-by-twenty feet. Plenty big enough for seven chairs and a baby bed.

Many nights, Kannan would wake to hear someone wandering the bus, usually it was Pads or George, but occasionally it might be Luna or Bill.

George wasn't coping well with the loss of Fred, nightmares and tears were a common. Pads wasn't a lot better, the loss of Moony nearly gutting him. Surprisingly it was Teddy that gave them both the most amount comfort. A warm weight in their arms that would babble whenever he was asked a question or would laugh whenever someone came into sight.

After two days at the resort, the Kannan was shocked to hear that Luna's father had succumbed to the injuries he'd received when the Death-Eaters destroyed the Rookery in retaliation for allowing Ron, Hermione and Harry to escape. That Luna hadn't told anyone, they weren't surprised to hear, but the fact that she hadn't told him? That hurt Kannan's heart, until Luna told him that her father had barely survived the war, he'd made his peace with his guilt over trying to hand Harry to the Death-Eaters, and had parted from his daughter, ready to be with her mother, again. Luna suffered, but not greatly, she knew that her parents were together, it gave her the chance to accept her loss.

Pads felt the loss of Moony, but having Teddy become his son, gave him a sense of continuation, there was still a piece of Moony with him. That's not to say he didn't struggle. He did, quite badly at times. Like George, there were days that he found getting out of bed just too much, then there were days that he sat in a deck chair on the sand for the whole day, sometimes with Teddy on his lap, sometimes he coached Neville through some of the work that Kingsley and Robards sent with him. But there were also days were he was bright and cheerful and very much like Sirius had been during the summer that Harry had stayed at Grimmauld Place.

George was the one to suffer the loss of his loved one the most. Given how close the twins were, that was understandable, and the disownment hadn't helped. For the first week, George cried. That was all he did. Bill, Kannan and Neville took it in turns to sit with him, they weren't prepared to let him mourn alone. Day in, and day out, someone was constantly with the shattered young man.

As the days slipped into weeks, George and Pads slowly started to have good days. Days where they would sit out with whoever was on 'Teddy duty', lounge in the sun or, if they were travelling, lounge in the bus, watching the countryside go by.

They stayed for three weeks in that first resort, before moving on down the coast. Their second stop was only a few hundred miles down the road, but they spent another few weeks there, in another magical campground, the witch at the reception office giving them a list of all the magical camps and resorts in Australia. They made their way from the north in a southerly direction, until they reached Wilson's Promontory and the magical resort there.

This was the first place that George came out of his room and stayed out for the entire day. It was also where Merran finally located and discarded a second Wilkins couple. At least now, they knew that they while were chasing the last lead, it was also the one that eventually it would lead them to Hermione's parents.

Late one evening or very early one morning, Kannan stumbled from his bed, driven by the memory of Snape's last minutes. Out in the living room of the bus, through a window, he saw a head of red hair studying the stars from a deck chair.

"Bill?" He whispered. "You want a chocolate milk?" It was late February and still way too hot in Australia, for a hot chocolate.

Bill jerked and looked over his shoulder, letting Kannan see tear tracks running down his face.

"Yeah… sure…" The older man sighed.

"Coming right up." Kannan melted the chocolate and mixed in the spices, before adding the cool milk to the mugs and grabbing a bowl of biscuits. A flick of his wand and the bowl joined the mugs on a tray, he carried it out and after a raised brow at Bill, the redhead conjured up an end table between Bill and a chair to his left.

"So…? What brings you out here, tonight?" Kannan asked.

"Just needed some space." Came the slow answer.

"Bill?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask something… without meaning to offend?"

Bill didn't answer, not in words, but he did give a jerky nod.

"What happened? You and Fleur were so in love. What happened?"

Bill didn't reply, seconds dragged into minutes and Kannan had just decided that he wasn't going to, when he sighed and began to speak.

"I don't know…" He said, brokenly. "It was good. We enjoyed our honeymoon, even though the war was all around us, it felt like we were in this little bubble. Then you four landed on our beach with a goblin and a dead house-elf. And we were suddenly right in the middle of the war and the bubble was gone." Bill sipped at his milk and sighed a few more times. "But the niffler that stole the ʛalleons was the battle at Hogwarts. Seeing the deaths. Having them happen in front of her. Oh, sure, she knew that people were dying, but they weren't killed right in front of her, were they?" He placed his mug gently on the table. "I think the reality of it was the deciding factor. The day after Fred's… I received the notice of abolition of our marriage." He huffed in annoyance. "I'm kind of glad she was part veela, it meant we couldn't do a magical bonding, just a legal one. As it was, she took almost everything I had, even the payout from the goblins. I think I had about… I don't know, maybe ʛ50 left, certainly no more."

"What did you do?"

"That was when the family had our first blow out. I went with George, stayed with him at the shop. Lee, Katie, Angelina and their quidditch mates were brilliant. During the day one of them would be with George, while I went to Hogwarts. Minerva convinced the Board that I'd given up my contract with the goblins to protect the school and if I was good enough for the goblins to pay out the remainder of my contract, instead of penalising me for it, I was good enough to work on the rebuilding of Hogwarts. I finished my last session, the day before all this…," he waved a hand towards Kannan and then the bus, "happened. I told Minerva that I'd called Charlie over to help with George, we planned to take him back to Romania, get him away from the shop, for a while. But… well, you know what happened."

"Want me to get Kingsley to toss her out of the country?" Kannan asked, only half joking.

"I already did. She'll never be able to come back to the UK, again, her father works for the French Ministry and they responded by banning me from France. No loss, there." Bill snorted. "I'm just glad we hadn't got around to children, yet. She said she wanted them, but I wanted to finish my contract with Gringotts before we did, so I was still using the contraception charms, even if she wasn't."

"Oh, man. Talk about a silver lining. You'd have never seen the sprogs, if you'd had 'em." Kannan huffed.

"Yeah…" Bill huffed. "It was a mistake, I can see that looking back, but that doesn't make it hurt less, then having mu- Molly demand we either support an abusive Ron or be cut from the family? I never thought da- Arthur would let her go that far, I never thought he'd do that." Bill whispered and tears began to slide down his cheeks. Kannan said nothing but he reached over and gripped Bill's hand, lending him whatever strength and comfort he could. "We lost everything in one go. Mu- Molly might have been a Prewett, but when she'd married Arthur, it was against her head of House's orders, he'd already set up a marriage contract and only minutes before it was to be signed, Molly and Arthur married, bonded really, Dumbledore himself officiated. It's why Muriel hates him so much. Thanks to Molly and Dumbledore, the name Prewett was dragged through the mud. It left Muriel's brother, Herbert, who was head of House and Winslow, Molly's grandfather, no choice. If they were to salvage the name, they had to cast Molly from the family. Winslow did give Gideon and Fabian permission to visit her, but her name was to never be mentioned in front of Herbert again, ever."

"Whoa…" Kannan breathed.

"Yeah… The only reason we had anything to do with Muriel was because Herbert died and his son, Milton became head of House. Milton did everything he could to be disowned, he hated his father and uncle, absolutely detested the two men. He split the family in two. Winslow and his descendants became a cadet-branch, his son, Ignatius was Molly's father and it was he that encouraged Winslow to disown Molly completely, but Winslow didn't agree until after he found out that Molly had a daughter. There hadn't been a girl born in either the Weasley or Prewett families since Muriel. While Milton retained the main Prewett title, he no longer had to tolerate or support Winslow's family, which is why the Weasley's are so poor, even though they're purebloods." Bill huffed. "I should contact Milton. Now that Molly and Arthur have both disowned Charlie, George and me, he might be able to adopt us back into the main family. The last time I talked to him, he said that if it weren't for Molly being disowned, he'd have made me his heir."

"It's up to you, Bill." Kannan told his recently acquired Uncle. "I know that Pads claimed the head of family titles for Black, Tonks and Lupin, the day after he claimed the Grimm title and adopted you guys. I think he intends to make Teddy the Lupin and Tonks head, there's little there as far as the magical world is concerned, but with Andromeda getting worse, I wouldn't be surprised to get a letter from Kingsley about the Tonks' muggle estate."

"Yeah, she'd been going down fast. Kingsley asked me to check her over, just to make sure it wasn't a curse." Bill agreed.

"Was it?"

"No, other than the calming draughts and sedatives St. Mungo's had given her, there was nothing. No charms, no hexes, no jinxes and no curses."

"It's good to know that no one is influencing her. I think that would be worse."

"Yeah…" Bill nodded. "You mentioned the Black title…"

"Oh, he wants that for you." Kannan huffed a laugh as Bill spat out a mouthful of milk and spluttered until he caught his breath. "Yeah… see Pads, he hated the family, right? But he still respected them… or… what they **_could_** have been. He always said, if it weren't for the light-or-dark issue, the red hair and their stupidity, you were the epitome of everything a Black **_should_** have been and **_weren't_**. Strong, skilled, smart and attractive. And with the Weasley family disowning you, that brings your Black blood to the forefront." Kannan hummed. "Actually, with both the Weasley and Prewett families disowning you, you really only have Black blood, both Molly and Arthur's mothers were Blacks. If you really want the Prewett title don't let Pads stop you, though, he can give the Black title to Charlie just as easily."

"You could always do a blood claim-and-purge, if you wanted to lose the physical characteristics of the Weasley's and the Prewett's." Padraig's voice joined them from the bus's door.

The two seated men both turned, one to his left and one to his right, their heads almost touching as they leant around the sides of their chairs.

"Hey, Pads." Kannan waved a hand over his head. "Gonna join us?"

"Yeah, sure, why not?" The older wizard grinned.

"You said a what-and-what, now?" Kannan asked as Padraig settled into a third deck chair.

"A blood claim-and-purge." Padraig replied. "I don't know the exact process, I started to look into it, got as far as finding out, it's permanent, before letting it go. But I do know that during the ritual you claim the blood connections you want and deny those you don't want. There's no going back, though, like I said, it's permanent. And you can only do it once in a lifetime."

"How would that alter the Grimm Family, though?" Bill asked.

"It depends on what you claim. I adopted you, I didn't blood adopt you. If you were to claim Grimm blood, in addition to the adoption, magic would make you completely and utterly my brother. The ritual only works on what you claim, if you claim a bloodline, it will incorporate that into your blood, if you don't, it won't affect the legality of a non-blood adoption, because the ritual only works on your blood. The downside? Unless there's an adoption, you have to have a degree of a bloodline to be able to claim it, and if there's a current head of House, they have to consent to the claim."

"Hmm…" Bill hummed quietly. "So… how… what would an introduction to someone, be like?"

"In what way?" Pads tilted his head, not understanding the question.

"Alright, say I was to do this ritual? Claim Black and Prewett blood but left out Grimm. How would I introduce myself?"

"Oh, okay. Um… As just a member of each family? William of Houses Black, Prewett and Grimm. As an heir to… Prewett, let's say. William, heir Prewett of Houses Black and Grimm. As a head of House? Depends. Black is an ancient and noble house, Prewett is a noble house, Grimm is simply a house. If you were head of House Black? William, Lord Black, of Houses Prewett and Grimm. Or for Prewett it would be William, Master of Prewett, of Houses Black and Grimm. For head of House Grimm, it would be William Head of House Grimm, of Houses Black and Prewett." Padraig answered. "But think about carefully, you can't do it a second time, one shot is all you get."

"So, make it a good one, huh?" Bill gave them a weak smile.

"Pretty much." Pads nodded.

"But without talking to the Master of Prewett… is that how I say it, Pads?" Kannan paused in what he was saying to ask, pleased when Padraig nodded again. "Great. So, without talking to the Master of Prewett, you're making a call without all the information. That's not good. I'm not saying take his offer, I'm saying find out what he wants, before you rule it out."

"Right." Bill huffed and thought about it for a few minutes. "Uh… could be a problem with me claiming Prewett blood. Molly was disowned from the family, remember?"

"But if the Master of Prewett, as the head of his House, adopts you as a member of his House, that overturns the need for Prewett blood." Padraig replied.

"Alright." Bill nodded. "I'll need to write to the Master of House Prewett and broach the subject. Depending on what he says, I may need to return to England for a bit."

"Bill, we're not Molly. You're an adult and have been for some time, if you want to return to England, just say, we'll see that you get there." Pads reminded the curse-breaker.

"Molly." Kannan suddenly sat up straight. "Bill, does she have access to your vaults? To George's or Charlie's?"

"No." Bill shook his head. "George and Fred only ever had the shop vault, they were able to deny her access, claiming that they needed to be able to account for every κnut that went in or out of the shop, even their own personal funds had to be receipted. I did make him open a new vault before we came with you, only this one? It's restricted, George is the only person who can access it. Charlie's vault is in Romania or it was, I'm not sure if he'll move it to New Zealand or not, and he told her that the Gringotts branch he used, wasn't like the big international branches, to get ʛalleons out you had to present a key, in person. Which was true, but if he'd given her a key, she'd have been able to use it in Diagon, he just didn't tell her that."

"And yours?" Kannan asked.

"I removed all access to my vault, when the abolition came through. That's when I found out that Molly had been dipping her wand into the vault regularly. And I've made sure that after Pads adopted us, we changed the names on all our vaults, even the shop vault, so Arthur can't get Gareth to pull the 'head of House needs access' crap."

"Which reminds me. The shop? Might wanna think about getting George to change the name. The Weasley's, especially Molly and Percy, might try and claim a percentage for use of the name."

"Already done." George flopped down onto a chair opposite them. "Instead of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes it's now called Wee Wizarding Wheezes. It was something… Fred… thought of before we left Hogwarts. He was worried that Molly with cut us out, even back then, so he came up with the idea. It was automatic. The moment our names… or my name… changed, so did the shop's and all the marketing stuff. Lee and Ange knew before Charlie got there. Cost a crap load to have Gringotts' identifications department link our identities to change everywhere, and then have the shop documents alter if our names altered. Cost nearly as much to have the printers work that into our packaging. Within one minute of the… disownment, Weasley had been removed from all items that were in any way connected to Fred, me and the shop."

"Whoa…" Bill gasped. "That must have cost a ʛalleon or two."

George snickered, and weren't the other three men pleased to hear it. "Someone gave us a sackful of gold and rejected any attempt we made to pay him back." He nudged Kannan's foot with his own. "We were in profit, his money laid aside, before we'd even left Hogwarts. I don't think Molly ever knew that over the next year, we'd taken time away from the shop to go to the Ministry and sit our NEWTs."

"How did you go?" Bill asked curious, it wasn't something that they'd talked about before.

"Pretty good. We applied for extenuating circumstances extension, before the toad got back to the Ministry, so we were able to add in some OWLs and take our NEWTs, all spread out over the next twelve months. All-in-all we had to sit both WEA exams and ICW exams."

"ICW?" Bill asked.

"Well, yeah. The British Ministry and hence their WEA, don't recognise Muggle Studies and Magical Theory as NEWT subjects."

Bill blinked in surprise. "You did Muggle Studies as a NEWT? What the heck does **_that_** involve?"

"Like I said, the British WEA doesn't recognise it, but the ICW does. At NEWT level their exam consists of a five-day test. You're provided cash, a credit card and an examiner to follow you, and you have to survive in the muggle world, without magic, barring an emergency, for those five days. You're assessed on how much trouble you have handling money, using transport, getting accommodation and buying things, you have to buy food, one change of clothes, toiletries, a book and a gift. In our case Fred and I added driving a car, riding a motorcycle and going to the movies for extra credit."

"Movies were extra credit?" Kannan laughed.

"Yup." George grinned. "We asked and were told we could bring someone extra along for the movie bit. So, Fred brought me along for his movie, we saw McHale's Navy, about the crew of a military submarine. And I brought Fred along for my movie and we saw an Austen Powers movie, it was a spy comedy. I let the examiner choose, and we laughed ourselves almost sick."

"Wow…" Kannan sat back shook his head. "Movies are part of exams, who'd have thought it?"

"And the rest of your exams?" Pads asked.

"We passed everything, some better than others, but we both got ten NEWTs." George smirked.

"But… but… but you have to have done the OWLs for a subject before you do the NEWTs." Bill spluttered.

"Yeah… and that's we why applied for extenuating circumstances. We said that our parents' finances were limited and as a result they had denied us the chance to take all the classes we wanted and that we'd left home and school, so now had the chance to make our own choices. We took six months to do the rest of the OWLs we wanted, and we took our last NEWT the week before Hogwarts let out the next year. Running the shop and studying was exhausting. Much more than just being at school, the only saving grace we had was, we already had the extension in place."

"You've got ten NEWTs? Really?" Bill couldn't get his head around it. "Why? What made you do it?"

"Molly and Arthur." George answered. "We weren't going to give them the satisfaction of calling us dropouts. We might have left Hogwarts, but we'd sat our first NEWT before the students did and we had a schedule of dates for all our other exams, too."

"Whoa…" Bill shook his head.

"Planning Billy, planning." George's look said he was chuffed with himself. "We might have had to mix them up a bit, but we got the quaffle through the hoop."

"Fred and George… ten NEWTs… I…" Bill was still stunned.

"Okay, enough of NEWTs and school. It's light enough, who's up for a swim?" Pads stood.


	8. Chapter 8

_"You've got ten NEWTs? Really?" Bill couldn't get his head around it. "Why? What made you do it?"_

_"Molly and Arthur." George answered. "We weren't going to give them the satisfaction of calling us dropouts. We might have left Hogwarts, but we'd sat our first NEWT before the students did and we had a schedule of dates for all our other exams, too."_

_"Whoa…" Bill shook his head._

_"Planning Billy, planning." George's look said he was chuffed with himself. "We might have had to mix them up a bit, but we got the quaffle through the hoop."_

_"Fred and George… ten NEWTs… I…" Bill was still stunned._

_"Okay, enough of NEWTs and school. It's light enough, who's up for a swim?" Pads stood._

April roared into Tasmania with a massive storm of wind, rain and sleet. It was not all that dissimilar to Scotland in October, in fact.

The bus had become a sanctuary for the travellers, but all of them were stressed. As the days had bled into weeks and the weeks into months, the fears of not finding Hermione's parents grew. Or rather, the fear that they wouldn't be found soon enough to correct the obliviate used on them.

Obliviates removed memories. Everyone knew that. What many people didn't realise is that if treated within a certain length of time, the charm was reversible. And that time was running out.

Fast.

As each week passed, Hermione grew quieter, she took to spending more and more time in the bus, often sitting quietly staring out of a window, but she rarely left the bus. Kannan would frequently resort to stunning her and levitating her outside. He knew that it was fear that kept her inside, fear that she would never have her parents smile at her, hug her or call her name. But Kannan wasn't giving up on his friend, she'd been there for him since his very first trip on the Hogwarts Express, through all the horrors of his 'adventures' and into the hell that was the War. He was not going to loose her to fear, not now.

After a quiet word with Padraig and Bill, Kannan set George to watch over her. To see that she ate at least a once a day. To see that she slept or at least went to bed for a few hours each night. Luna was the one to see that she bathed and changed her clothes each day. Teddy babbled away at her, he was the only one that would get a smile from her, very little else could even catch her attention. Kannan watched her, he saw that on the rare times that she actively participated in life in the bus, she stayed near George. Apparently, the loss of Fred and the potential loss of her parents was forging a bond between the two, that the rest of them were not a part of.

In one of their late-night chats, Bill and Kannan speculated what that meant for the grieving young man and the witch. Would that connection be enough to keep Hermione with them, if they were too late to return her parents' memories? Would it survive, if they were found in time? At this point, all Bill and Kannan could do was hope.

Then… just when Kannan was beginning to think he'd lose his friend, finally some good news came.

Late one evening, in place of the weekly update from Merran, they received a visitor.

The knocking at the bus's door interrupted their game of Twenty Questions. It was Bill's turn and so far, they'd been making guesses for nearly ten minutes. So, the interruption wasn't unwelcome.

Neville was the one to turn the exterior light on and look at the painting that showed the exterior of the bus from different angles, a magical version of a security camera system.

The face of Liaison Merran was clearly visible. And after gesturing to Kannan, Bill and Padraig, Neville cautiously opened the door, standing back enough that one of the others had clear casting, if need be.

"Liaison." He greeted the man quietly.

"Trainee Longbottom. I hope I'm not disturbing you, but I have news and I felt it urgent enough, to present it in person." Merran replied.

"Liaison, I'm sure you're well aware of the mess the UK was in last year, you should be seeing as I, personally gave you an overview. So, you understand that security is a major issue? Knowing that… please tell me how I described the destruction of the last of Voldemort's anchors?"

"Ah. Let me see… Oh, yes. You swung at the snake, like you were de-gnoming the gardens. It then proceeded to explode into something more like what usually emerged from your cauldron in the bat's class. Mind, I don't understand the references, but that is what I recall." Merran finished with a quickly worded sentence.

"Excellent. Please come in, Liaison Merran." Neville grinned and opened the door wider. "Hurry now, don't want people to think you're freezing in this cold." After all they were in a mixed camping area, just a few miles from Cradle Mountain with all its walking trails.

"Oh, thank you. I do try to blend in, but sometimes blending's just not enough. This weather is truly foul." The wizard chattered as he entered the bus and shed his heavy winter jacket. "Oh, lovely… warm…" He sighed accepting a hot chocolate from Luna. "Thank you, Miss Lovegood."

"You're quite welcome." Luna answered in her usual airy voice.

"You mentioned news?" Padraig asked.

"I did, indeed. We've found the Wilkins's." He was met by a strangled silence. "They're in New Zealand." A sigh of relief went through the bus and Hermione slid towards the floor. George grabbed at her and ended up on the floor underneath her, pillowing her head and shoulders on his chest.

"Oh, good catch, George." Luna gave the redhead a smile.

"Thanks. Someone help?"

Kannan and Bill exchanged glances and shared a well-hidden smirk, before Kannan flicked a wand and levitated Hermione up onto the sofa.

"Thanks." George climbed to his feet, rubbing at his hip, where it had connected with the edge of a table as he'd gone down. A second smirk was shared between his brother and Kannan when he sat on the sofa's armrest and brushed Hermione's hair from her face.

"Please go on." Padraig said to Merran.

"Of course." Merran nodded. "There was some concern about whether we had the right couple, because just as with here in Australia, there were multiple couples arriving in New Zealand. Our problem was that the couple that left Australia, did so not by commercial traffic, but had signed on as cabin crew for a luxury private yacht. Where the yacht arrived was a small marina and the customs paperwork wasn't filed for a few days. My counterpart in Auckland put her best tracker on the case and… well… it took a while. New Zealand has more free camping areas than Australia does, given its size, but eventually they were found. We checked them against the images that Miss Granger provided and yes, it's them. This morning Airini, my counterpart, went to see them with intent to reverse the obliviates."

"Oh, gods." Kannan reached out and grabbed Bill's arm, this could be either the making or the breaking of Hermione.

"Miss Granger is lucky, very lucky. Airini said it was a struggle and if they hadn't been such strong people and Miss Granger so reluctant when she cast it, it might not have worked. As it was, it was touch and go, having the two of them together helped, though, one prompted the other with stories and anecdotes."

"It worked?" Padraig asked, bluntly.

"It worked. Airini contacted me just a few minutes ago, the Wilkins's have requested that all their documentation be reverted back to Granger and would like to be addressed as Monica and Christien Granger, in future. They do want see Hermione, however, they've asked for that to not happen before next weekend, as they are, quite rightfully, upset and don't want to take that out on her. Best give them a chance to come to terms with what happened before meeting up with them." Merran grimaced.

"Knowing Mione's temper? Yeah, that's a smart move." Kannan winced.

"In addition, I bear a bundle of letters from the UK, sent by diplomatic mail, Mr Longbottom. All have been scanned by our DMLE and other than one that has an 'recipient only' charm, none of them bear any magic. I'll leave them for you. If over the next week and a half, you'd make your way back to Brisbane, I can keep tabs on the Grangers and organise flights, accommodation and transport for you in NZ." Merran laid a bundle of letters on the nearest flat surface.

"That would be appreciated." Padraig told the wizard. "If possible, we'd like another bus like this."

"There is the chance that you may be able to retain this bus. 'Around the Bend' has connections in NZ and while I'm not certain, some of their buses are multinational, meaning that they can be shrunk and taken from one country to another. I am not certain, however, that this particular bus is one of them, but I shall inquire on your behalf. Shall we say next Thursday, to meet? Later in the evening. To fly out Friday morning? Depending on flights, of course."

"That would be much appreciated, Liaison Merran." Neville gave the man a semi-formal reply.

"Excellent" Merran pulled on his heavy jacket and reached for the door. "Oh. I almost forgot. A letter for Miss Granger, from her parents. Airini checked it but I dare say, you'll want to do the same." He reached into his trouser pocket and retrieved a muggle envelope and laid it with the bundle of letters. "I look forward to seeing you back in Brisbane, in much warmer conditions." With that Merran opened the door and was gone into the storm.

"Well…" Padraig huffed out on a big breath.

"Yeah…" Bill sighed.

"Shall we leave Mione to wake or should we _rennervate_ her?" George asked.

"No. We leave her to sleep, she's not getting enough. Would you see that she gets to bed, please?" Kannan asked.

"Sure, I can do that." George answered.

"Great. Nev? What's in the letters?" Kannan turned to the trainee Auror.

"Couple for Bill, some for Mione, one for Luna, couple for me, one for Kannan and one for Pads. The last two are from Kingsley, neither are marked with Ministry seals." Neville held up the two parchment envelopes, each sealed with a geometric shaped seal, that Kannan recognised from the similarities it bore to Kingsley's indigo robes.

"Huh, okay. Well, why don't we read them and find out what's going on?" Padraig suggested. "Then some more hot chocolate while we discuss anything we need to?"

"Sounds good to me." Bill nodded and took the letters Neville handed him, leaving George's on the table.

Half an hour later, all the adults bar Hermione, sat in a rough circle, fresh mugs of hot chocolate in their hands.

"Anyone that wants to divulge, no one has to, but if you want to talk about it, go ahead." Padraig gestured.

"I will." Neville said. "Gran's informed me that my parents are now completely bedridden, dad's in and out of consciousness and the healers are talking of placing him in a magical coma. Gran want s me to think about letting them go. The empath-healers are reporting that they're starting to get more nerve degeneration and pain. I'll talk to Luna about it. Because I'm on duty, technically, St. Mungo's will set up an international floo-conference call to discuss all the options. I just have to nominate a time."

"Oh, Nev…" Kannan sighed.

"It's been coming for a while, Kannan, I just hoped it wouldn't happen yet. Also, Robards, the head of the Auror corps? He's been through the memories that we sent of my training sessions. He's promoting me to senior trainee and wants me to visit a Ministry, either here in Australia or New Zealand and have their corps test me. He seems to think I'm progressing faster than the other trainees." That last was said to Bill and Padraig. "Thanks guys. Otherwise, I'm to stay with you, until I receive orders recalling me."

"Good on ya, Nev." Kannan cheered.

"Milton, the Master of House Prewett wants to adopt George, Charlie and I back into the Prewett family." Bill said. "He still wants me to be his heir but wants to discuss it face to face. Charlie can't leave the reserve for more than a couple of hours, just yet. So, Milton's suggesting we meet in New Zealand, preferably somewhere close to the reserve."

"That's great, Bill." Padraig congratulated the curse-breaker. He'd been talking to the three ex-Weasley's and after a lot of debating with himself, had decided that Charlie would make just as good a head for House Black as Bill would, and that if Master of Prewett offered the heir position to Bill and Bill accepted it, he would offer the Black seat to Charlie. George would one day end up as the head of House Grimm as Kannan wanted nothing to do with being the head of any family. He'd been forced to be a leader during the war and wanted nothing more than to sit back and just live his life without the drama of leading a House.

"There's also a letter from Arthur Weasley." Bill paused.

"What does he want?" Kannan wasn't sure whether he felt curious or angry and his voice came out an odd mix of the two.

"He's explained why he followed Molly's lead and… I'm kind of impressed." Bill said the last bit a little fainter.

"Oh?" George raised his brows. "What does he say?"

"Molly wasn't happy with Fred and George's independence, even before they left Hogwarts she'd tried to speak to her father, but he refused to have anything to do with her. So, she went to Arthur's Uncle Gareth, who is head of house Weasley, he wasn't any more pleased than she was. Together the two were in the process of setting the twins up in contracts with Gareth's nieces on his wife's side, when the war escalated. He has guardianship of the girls and the contracts would have given Gareth, the twins' shop as bride-price. They were going to drug the twins to get them to sign the contracts and Fred's death didn't change anything but their timing. Hector, Arthur's brother overheard and told Arthur, he went to Milton Prewett and the three came up with the idea of disowning us from the Weasley Family, so Milton could adopt us back into the Prewett Family. When Molly lost her temper and threatened to disown them, Arthur went along with it and acted on the spot, he thought Milton had discussed it with us and we'd known what they'd planned, but Milton felt that it was better for us to not know, to keep our reactions genuine. Molly realised what they'd done and called Gareth, he tried to reverse it, but fortunately for us, Pads had already adopted us and there was nothing Gareth and Molly could do."

"Oh, man. I said it before, and I'll say it again. Weasley's are better at dramas than the Malfoys." Kannan whined.

Bill snorted. "That is **_so_** true. Anyway… Hector, Arthur and Milton talked it through with Gringotts and bluntly, they can only see one way to permanently stop Molly and Gareth."

"Why the heck does Molly want their shop?" Neville asked.

"She doesn't, she just wants to control them." Bill answered.

"No one controls the twins." Kannan laughed.

"No, but with Fred gone, she figured they'd have a better chance of controlling a grieving George." Bill added.

"Yeah, let's not let that happen." Neville shook his head.

"Agreed. Hector and Milton think the best option for us is to have already sighed other contracts, before we return to the UK." Bill shrugged.

"That **_could_** work?" It came out as a question even though Padraig nodded.

"Question is… What type of contracts?" Kannan asked.

"Given their ages? The only one that may work… and I say **_may_**… Is a marriage contract." Neville offered.

"No. The only way is to be bonded. Magically bonded. Otherwise Molly will try to potion one or both of them with a lust potion. If she could get Bill or George dosed, they will try and charge them with infidelity and seduction, to break the contract." Luna said.

"She would, too." Hermione stood in the door to her room. "Don't get me wrong, she doesn't want to hurt them, she still sees them as her children and only mother knows best."

"It's a holdover from Gideon and Fabian's deaths. She needs to control what we do and who we associate with. Always has." Bill nodded.

"Alright. How are we going to do this? I'm not going to lose my shop because of her need to control." George said.

"Charlie's fairly safe, as long as he stays in out of the UK. It's George and me that are going to be at risk." Bill said.

"But are you prepared to go as far as magically bonding with someone, just to keep out of Molly's hands?" Padraig asked.

"Yes." Both Bill and George nodded.

"Right, then. Who are we going to hook you up with?" Neville grinned.

"Preferably someone that would piss Molly off even more." Padraig added.

"Me. Me and Kannan. Me dumping Ron and marr-, sorry bonding one of the sons she disowned? That's going to boil her cauldron dry." Hermione answered, a slightly vicious tone to her voice. "And Kannan? Well, that's obvious isn't it?"

"She homophobic." Bill commented when he saw the blank looks.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding?" George huffed. "Geez, someone up there either hates her or hates us. She's homophobic and she's got three gay sons… or two now, I suppose."

"I'm bi not gay. Idiot." Bill said, smacking George upside the head.

"Oh, okay. Two gay sons and one bi son. My comment stands." George huffed and rubbed his head.

"You'd best talk to Milton before you make too many plans." Kannan warned. "He might have some other options for you."

"I'll write and tell him we'll be in New Zealand for a while." Bill agreed. "How is that going to work with me being adopted into the Grimm family?"

"Okay, let's assume that you take Milton up on his offer and become heir Prewett." Padraig said. "You bonding with Kannan is fine. I adopted you sideways from me. On a family tree you'd be connected to me by a broken line, which means that you weren't born into the family but brought in… adopted that is… by me. You have all the rights and responsibilities of a member of our family but without a blood claim-and-purge, you're still only classified as an adopted member. Not a blood member. George is a little different, he's connected to both Kannan and I, but still only as an adopted member. You or Charlie could bond with Kannan without any repercussions, but George couldn't. It's all about the connections. Legally, there's no restrictions, you're only an adopted member of the house, you share no blood with Kannan. So, it's up to you two."

"Will you think about it, Kannan? We work well together, and we already have an emotional connection. We could build something on that." Bill leant forward and asked quietly.

"Let's talk to Milton and we'll work something out." Kannan smiled at Bill.

"Hermione?" George asked, not really knowing what he was asking, just trusting that she would understand.

"Yes, George. I know. I wouldn't have suggested it, if I wasn't prepared to go ahead with it." Hermione answered. "But I'm not doing anything until I speak to my parents. How soon can I see them?"

"Ah…" Padraig grunted. "Merran said that…" He explained what Merran had told them earlier and watched as Hermione hummed in thought.

"Next weekend is still pushing. Mum usually takes a bit longer than that after big shocks and this is right up there with the biggest." She crewed up her nose.

"We can always give them the option of a few extra days, Mione. Bill needs to speak to Milton, Master of Prewett and then there's the possibilities of a blood claim-and-purge ritual." Kannan said. "We won't be certain until after they speak to Milton. And probably Gringotts, too."

"But for now, we're just going to head back towards Brisbane and meet up with Liaison Merran, again. Then make the move over to New Zealand. We can't do much else until we get there." Padraig said.

"Okay." Hermione was quiet for a few minutes. "I'm hungry…" She eventually said. "Can someone make me a sandwich? I'm not sure I could hold a knife, my hands are shaking."

"I can do that." George held out a hand and led the young woman into the kitchen in search of food.

"If we're heading out tomorrow, everyone needs a decent night's sleep. Kannan, Bill? That means no midnight gadabouts for you two." Padraig waggled his eyebrows, causing Teddy to laugh and reach for him from Kannan's lap.


	9. Chapter 9

_"If we're heading out tomorrow, everyone needs a decent night's sleep. Kannan, Bill? That means no midnight gadabouts for you two." Padraig waggled his eyebrows, causing Teddy to laugh and reach for him from Kannan's lap._

The reunion between Hermione and her parents proved to be emotional, in more ways than one, and quite entertaining for the spectators. It started with a stilted standoff that became tears that morphed into laughter then into anger before the tears resurfaced again. But what amused Kannan and George, who were the only ones to have previously met the Grangers personally, were the timing of the changes. Each of the Grangers moved from one emotion to another, independent of each other. Monica Granger was the first to cry, but Chris was first to get angry. Kannan was amused at whom he was angry with. Not Hermione. Not Harry. Not even Dumbledore. No, Christien Granger was angry with Minerva McGonagall for deceiving them in regard to the safety of the wizarding world.

For nearly four hours, Padraig, Bill, Kannan and George munched popcorn and sipped on hot chocolate while they watched what George quickly dubbed 'The Granger Show'. A couple of time Kannan nudged George and reminded him that he was very seriously considering marrying/bonding into that family. George would snark bark something about Kannan looking to bond with a curse-breaker, one that had the dreadful habit of searching out Christmas and birthday presents, nothing would be hidden ever again. Kannan would laugh and say there were worse things in life than a present hunter, it just meant that gifts would either be left at shops or not bought until the last second. George huffed and muttered something about 'that's taking all the fun out of Christmas', while Bill blustered that he wasn't the only present hunter in the family.

Both senior Grangers were furious at Ron over the hitting Hermione incident and Chris threatened to remove 'the imbecilic idiot's teeth, without anaesthetic', unsurprisingly Kannan and George were his strongest supporters. Monica was a little more creative and wanted to have George, Kannan and Bill between them, curse out every other upper tooth, making almost impossible for them to be regrown magically. The idea behind this was to make it extremely difficult for Ron to eat much in the way of solid foods, ever again.

Either way, the spectators were reminded to never anger a dentist, they tend to air out their Slytherin sides, viciously. And they liked the results to be permanent.

After hearing about the issues that faced Bill, Charlie and George, the senior Grangers muttered darkly about pureblood idiots. When Hermione told them what the current options were, her parents asked her to erect a privacy screen, that there were a few things that needed to be said just between the three of them. Ten minutes later, George was asked to join them and over the next fifteen minutes, Kannan watched as George answered questions, went red, went pale, laughed and cried. All without him hearing a sound.

When Hermione dropped the screen, Chris informed the spectators that Hermione and George were getting married/bonded sometime in the next month.

While this was happening Luna and Neville had left them to attend the New Zealand MoM. Neville was going through his Auror testing, as per Robards' request. Luna spent her week sitting her NEWTs, she deferred them after the battle not wanting to deal with the stress of exams while her father was in such poor health. The group were reminded exactly why Luna had been sorted into Ravenclaw, when she received her NEWT results.

She'd blown Bartemius Crouch Jnr's record of twelve OWLs and Hermione's of twelve NEWTs, out of the cauldron with a whopping fifteen O's in fifteen subjects. It was the highest number awarded in decades, she'd beaten Lily Evans by one subject and Dumbledore by three.

When they returned it was a sober Nev that told them his parents were deteriorating quicker than expected and that he would have to make a decision within the next two months. Augusta was also pushing them to marry before his father died, something to do with the head of House rings accepting Luna easier if they were married or bonded prior to the changeover. And that raised an issue that no one had considered.

Luna, thanks to her stay in Malfoy manor and the torture she received from the Lestrange brothers, was sterile. She had a working uterus capable of carrying a child from conception to birth but… while her ovaries produced the required hormones to regulate her body, they didn't produce fertile eggs. This was upsetting for Nev, Luna and Augusta, until one night, Padraig was reminiscing about how he came to be a father or at least the public story, of donated eggs and a surrogate mother. Neville and Luna liked the idea, but Augusta took it one step further and suggested that sperm be taken from Frank, that could be used to fertilise eggs from Alice and then Luna could safely carry them to birth, when each child could be blood adopted by Neville and Luna. After many hours of detailed discussions with healers from St. Mungo's, St. Basillissa's Maternity Hospital in Sydney and the Gerard Majella Maternity Clinic in Salem, an agreement was reached. Twelve eggs would be taken from Alice and fertilised, each would be allowed to grow to six weeks, then eleven of those would be placed under a medical stasis, while the twelfth would be inserted into Luna. Whether they used all of these or not, was a different matter and one for the future.

This discussion also raised the fact that Luna had no male relatives, within four removes, which made a magical bonding between the two impossible, as a male head of House has to approve and give his consent, it was a holdover from the more patriarchal days of old. To remedy this Padraig and Kannan duelled, the winner would be the one to offer her an adoption. Padraig wanted a daughter and Kannan wanted a sister. Padraig, Bill, Augusta and the Grangers were more than a little surprised when Kannan won, but the others knew what he was capable of, they'd all seen Harry use a wand.

Kannan got his sister. Padraig sulked. Bill found the whole thing amusing. Hermione just shook her head. George didn't even attempt to smother his laughter. Neville said 'I told you so' to his stunned grandmother. The Grangers compared it to a light-sabre duel from Star Wars. And Luna rocked Teddy, laughing at the lot of them, she'd known exactly what was going to happen.

That moved the group to the next issue, that of adoptions and blood claim-and-purges.

When Bill and Padraig contacted Gringotts, they were told that St. Damian's would need to be involved, at least if they wanted it to be legal and ICW recognised. St. Damian's brought in three specialists, one Kiwi and two Canadians, to monitor and sign off on the certification. The consultations went on for two full days. Who was doing what and why? The actual process was a highly guarded secret an even those that went through it, only remembered their own words.

The results were simple but effective.

Bill claimed Prewett blood as his primary ancestry with the Blacks as a minor blood connection and the Grimm family as a legal but not blood-connected adoption. This left it open for Milton Prewett to name Bill as his heir which was done with alarming speed, Bill had barely been cleared by the healers before Milton was handing him the Prewett heir's ring, promising that Kannan would get a family ring upon bonding with Bill. Physically, Bill changed little as a result of the ritual, the only visible changes were his hair darkening from vibrant ginger to a deeper richer auburn and his eyes going from jade green to a striking golden brown with green streaks.

Charlie went with Black as his main bloodline of origin, with Prewett and Grimm both being minor blood connections. His hair went from coppery auburn to a warm chocolate with auburn streaks and his eyes went from a similar jade as Bill's to a pale blue with streaks of jade green. He also gained nearly three inches in height, bringing him to a quite respectable five-foot-nine-inches, which stretched his previously stocky body and gave him proportional physique. Padraig was more patient than Milton and waited until the next morning before handing Charlie the head of House ring for the Black family along with his coffee.

George went with Grimm as his primary family with Black and Prewett as his minor connection. The only physical changes George went through were his hair darkening to match Kannan's and his eyes going from golden brown to a light hazel with green being the predominant colour. George received the Grimm heir's ring, that Padraig had commissioned for him, on his plate alongside his scrambled eggs.

Kannan chose Grimm as his main family and Black as a more distant connection, remembering that Harry's great-grandmother Potter had been born a Black. He suffered no physical changes or none that anyone could tell. The next day saw him given a Black family ring by Charlie and a Grimm family ring by Padraig, Charlie at least handed him the ring directly whereas Padraig had planted the Grimm ring on the middle of a slice of toast.

Luna stuck with Lovegood as her primary bloodline, but she also chose her mother's family, the Ollivander family as a minor connection, along with the Grimm family. Garrick Ollivander, the wandsmith was her closest relation they only shared a great-great-grandfather, not close enough to give consent for a bonding. The only change the claim-and-purge had on Luna, that were visible, were her eyes gaining a streaking of Kannan's green. Padraig pouted mightily when Kannan snatched a Grimm family ring from Padraig's hand, as he went to add it to Luna's jam, and presented it to his new sister.

Kannan made the same offer to Hermione as he had to Luna, however, during the process of returning her parents' memories, the New Zealand MoM had discovered that Christien wasn't a muggle but a squib, his father who had died when Christien was very young, had been a wizard, a distant member of the Dagworth-Granger family. This changed Hermione's status in the wizarding world considerably and made her a far more desirable catch as a wife, something that she feared would push Molly or one of the other nearly obsolete families into taking unscrupulous action. This brought forward the bonding between Hermione and George from Yule to the solstice in June.

Thankfully, that was only weeks away. It was also a very short length of time in which to plan a wedding. Here Hermione's legendary organisational skills came into play. It took her, Monica and Luna, one single day to work out what the difference was between a magical bonding ceremony and a legal wedding and work out what parts of which they were going to have, so as to combine the two in a double ceremony for Hermione and George, as well as Neville and Luna.

They had a set date, so the first thing they had to choose was a location. They chose a magical resort just to the west of Lake Te Anau over the edge into the Fiordlands National Park. Next it was invitations, who were they going to invite and how much notice were they going to give them?

While the three women hashed out the details. Kannan headed for Auckland. Luna's NEWT results had made him realise that neither he nor Padraig had OWLs or NEWT's to their names. An international floo-call to Kingsley and Padraig's scores had been copied from Sirius' Auror application and Harry's OWL results were copied from Hogwarts. After a long and slightly half-assed conversation with Padraig, Kannan chose seven of the eight subjects that as Harry, he'd sat for OWLs. He was pleasantly surprised with his results, sure he was nowhere in Hermione, Luna or Bill's league when it came to studying but he didn't need to be. All he really needed were passes, but what he got was the highest DADA scores in the last hundred year, even eclipsing Dumbledore's. The ICW examiner told him that all he'd need to do to get his Mastery, would be to put forward a thesis and duel with a Master Auror or Duelling Master.

A few days before Hermione and George's bonding, Kannan woke from yet another nightmare. He stumbled from his room, to the kitchen in search of a hot chocolate, he needed the pick-me-up, badly. With his hot chocolate in hand, Kannan grabbed a heavy cloak and made his way outside to the firepit they'd parked the bus beside.

Sitting in his seat, he flicked his wand and levitated a couple of logs into the pit before setting them alight with a silent _incendio_. Kannan leant back, his head resting against the back of the chair, just staring off into space, his mind curiously quiet after such a nightmare.

"Kannan?" Bill's voice made him turn his head towards the bus.

"Hey…" He whispered, giving the other man a tired smile.

"You okay?" Bill asked, sitting in a chair beside Kannan.

"Nightmare…" Was all the younger wizard said.

"Ah. What was it this time?"

"Malfoy manor. Ron and I didn't get out of the dungeons in time." Kannan answered.

"Well… you know better. Mione's here and bonding with George on Tuesday. Luna's here, too. Oh, and hey? She'd bonding with Neville on Tuesday, as well." Bill added the last bit brightly, like he was telling Kannan for the first time.

Kannan huffed a laugh. "Is she really?" He asked in a sarcastic tone.

Bill's laugh echoed in the silence of the night.

"Hey, Kannan?" Bill asked.

"Ye-ess…" Kannan drew the word out into a hiss.

"I never actually asked. Will you bond with me?" It was asked quietly, almost hesitantly.

Kannan laughed gently. "Yes, Bill, I'll bond with you. I thought we were passed that?"

"I know, but it just occurred to me this evening… That we'd talked about it and made plans for the September solstice and all that… but I still hadn't actually asked you, we just agreed with Hermione and Luna." Bill said.

"I could say the same, you know. I didn't ask you, either." Kannan replied.

"Yeah, but you're not the one that's got to bond, just to keep an ex-mother from manipulating them into a marriage of her choice." Bill objected.

"And what do you think would happen if Molly found out who I used to be? Huh?" Kannan snorted.

"Ooh… Nasty… Yeah, alright. So, we're either both a bit on the slow side, or neither of us needed a proposal… Fair enough." Bill grimaced as he thought about it.

"Hmm…" Kannan hummed and let silence fall, the calm of the night filling all the little gaps left by his nightmares.

"Hey, Bill?" Kannan asked some time later.

"Yeah?" Bill answered quietly, almost asleep.

"Do you reckon Hermione's pregnant yet?"

**_"What?!" _**Bill squawked, sitting up in a hurry.

"I mean… They've been sharing George's room since her parents joined us. And somehow I can't see him waiting for a wedding." Kannan commented.

Bill shuddered. "Don't tell me that! I don't want to know. I don't want to think about it." He waved his hands in a warding-off gesture.

"Oh, okay. Fair enough." Kannan nodded and hummed in thought. "What about Luna?"

"Oh, gods, Kannan…" Bill groaned, covering his eyes with a hand. "Luna's going in on Friday to have an embryo transplanted. Remember?"

"When were we told that?" Kannan frowned.

"Monday last week."

"Oh. Huh. I wasn't here. I was in Auckland sitting my NEWTs… remember?" Kannan tossed Bill's snarky 'remember' back at him.

"Oh, yeah, right." Bill nodded. "Luna's going in on Friday to get knocked up." He added redundantly.

"Have they decided on how many they're going to have?"

"Neville said he wanted four, if Luna would carry them. Luna just smiled."

"Okay, so probably closer to eight, then." Kannan wobbled his head from side to side in a seesaw motion.

"That's what Hermione and George both said, too." Bill shrugged.

"What about us?"

"What? Oh, I agree with them, Luna's probably already knows how many, what sex and what their names are." Bill replied.

"No. I meant… What about us? Are we going to have children, too?" Kannan asked, studiously not looking at Bill.

Bill looked like a deer caught in a lumos. "What…?"

"Are we going to have children?" Kannan repeated the question.

"Children…?"

"Yes, children. Are we going to have them?" Kannan was finding Bill's shock amusing, but he really wanted an answer.

"Okay, I can see that…" Bill whispered. "Yours or mine…?"

"Well, Hermione seems to think there's a way for any children to be ours, both yours and mine." Kannan tried to nonchalant, but a hint of tension had crept into his voice.

"How?" Bill leant forward sharply.

"There's two options. One of us would take a gender-swap potion, get pregnant and carry the children to birth. Or? One of us take a gender-swap potion and let the healers harvest eggs, then have a surrogate carry a baby to term."

**"****_Excuse_**_ me?!_ Exactly what's involved in that?" Bill demanded.

"One of us takes a gender-swap potion, followed by a ten-day potion regime to increase fertility, then another potion to induce ovulation. Once ovulating, the healers can remove eggs to be externally fertilised and either stored or implanted in a surrogate." Kannan answered imitating Hermione's lecturing voice. "Personally," he went on in his own voice, "I prefer the second option. Being a woman for nine months and going through childbirth is not my idea of butterbeer and quidditch."

"Ugh… No." Bill groaned. "So, who…? Which of us…?"

"The healers feel that if we're going to do that, we're better off both doing it. That way they can test each embryo for genetic health, stability and magical potential."

"Ten days?"

"From start to finish? Fourteen." Kannan corrected. "We go in on day one, we take a purging potion to remove all other potions from our systems. Start the fertility potions on day two, they take ten days. Day eleven, there's no potions. Day twelve, we take the ovulation potion. Day thirteen, they harvest the eggs and after harvesting, we're given another purging potion which reversed the gender-swap. Day fourteen, we take a sperm booster and they harvest sperm. From there, we're done, it's in the hands of the healers. They don't need to check the eggs or sperm as they'll only transfer viable specimens, but they do need to externally fertilise each egg and suspend them in an artificial womb until they can determine the rate of success for each embryo."

"What happens to those that have a low rate? Or the ones that don't take?"

"That's up to us. They only take so many eggs for each person, how many is up to us. **_All_** of them are given back to us, they don't keep any. If any are going to be disposed of, **_we_** have to dispose of them. The healers don't have the legal right to do that, not even with our permission. Hermione's a little paranoid that a healer might try and keep some samples, so she's said that she, Monica and Luna will monitor the entire process, from start to finish. Once the embryos are under a medical stasis, they're given to us and it's up to us to find a woman to be our surrogate. Any good healer can transfer an embryo from the stasis phial into our surrogate."

"What about magical potential? Isn't that impacted by the mother? Sorry, the surrogate?"

"No, it shouldn't, but one of the things the healers would be testing for is magical potential. Both of us are reasonably powerful, and-"

"Reasonably? Kannan, we're both **_very_** powerful." Bill cut in.

"Both of us are reasonably powerful," Kannan repeated, "and my mother was a muggleborn, that brought in fresh magic, which makes the chances of a squib quite low. Odds of less than one in a thousand. For a mediocre wizard, the odds are one in a hundred. For children as powerful as us, well… that's what they expect most to be. More powerful than us, maybe one in a hundred, but there is the chance, so we have to be aware of the possibility."

"Geez…" Bill huffed. "Hermione doesn't mess around when she wants information, does she?"

"Nope, but most of this was told to Luna and Augusta, so Hermione only had to ask how it would relate to a same-sex couple." Kannan laughed.

"Okay…" Bill bit his lips. "Are we going to do this? When are we going to do this? Do we have to wait until we're bonded? Are we doing the right thing? In getting bonding?"

"Bill, you and me? We're both strong, stubborn men. We're powerful wizards. We already have an emotional connection and while it may not have been all that strong when we left England, over the last few months, it's been building. I don't think we're **_in_** love, but I can honestly say that, yes, I **_do_** love you. To what degree? In what manner? I don't know, but that's something I want to find out. I have no hesitation in bonding with you."

"Same here." Bill offered quietly.

"But fair warning? I have little experience with love, of any sort. Beit family or romantic. The Dursleys and Dumbledore's plans saw to that. What little knowledge I have, I got from your- the Weasley's, so that may be a little unreasonable."

"Ginny?" Bill raised an eyebrow.

"I think I liked the idea of Ginny, more than actually being with her. The fact that she and everyone around us, just accepted that we'd get together, used to annoyed me. Like, do they think I can't think for myself, so they have to plan out my entire life for me?" Kannan huffed.

"Maybe the Ministry did you a favour when they declared you, undesirable number one." Bill muttered, thinking about Harry's trial and subsequent Exile.

"Yeah, I think they might have." Kannan nodded.

"Alright, shall we speak to the healers and book in?"

"Yes. Maybe for later in the week or next week?"

"Sound good to me." Bill nodded and laid out his hand, palm up silently asking for Kannan's.

"It does." Kannan laid his hand in Bill's and leant back to watch the stars, content with their plan.


	10. Chapter 10

_"Maybe the Ministry did you a favour when they declared you, undesirable number one." Bill muttered, thinking about Harry's trial and subsequent Exile._

_"Yeah, I think they might have." Kannan nodded._

_"Alright, shall we speak to the healers and book in?"_

_"Yes. Maybe for later in the week or next week?"_

_"Sound good to me." Bill nodded and laid out his hand, palm up silently asking for Kannan's._

_"It does." Kannan laid his hand in Bill's and leant back to watch the stars, content with their plan._

The wedding went off without a hitch, the two brides debated with each other and with their families, but in the end only three people from the UK were invited. And only one knew what was going on.

Minerva McGonagall received an invitation to what she thought was Hermione's graduation from the University of Otago's magical campus, but she has no idea what Hermione had been studying or how she's managed to graduate in under a year. Filius Flitwick thought he was being invited to view one of Luna's fabulous creatures, he knew that at least some of them were real, if extremely reclusive. Both were completely stunned when told what they were actually there for.

Kingsley Shacklebolt smirked at their slack-jawed expressions, knew he was being invited to a wedding, after all, he'd been asked to officiate for the couples.

Both brides were resplendent in traditional robes in deep indigo, trimmed by silver and gold. The grooms wore dark grey robes trimmed with matching silver and gold. The ceremony itself was short and simple, Kingsley asking each pair to face each other and make their vows, they were then to step forward so he could perform the Matrimonial Bonding. The Bondings were similar enough to Unbreakable Vows that the witnesses knew these Bonds wouldn't be breaking any time soon.

Then it was the signing of the documents for those that had the authority to bear witness, namely Kingsley as their Bonder, McGonagall, Flitwick and Airini as ICW recognised professionals. McGonagall and Flitwick were both pleased for the couples, and although both were slightly surprised at Hermione's choice, neither were displeased. Kingsley happily handed Neville his junior Auror's badge, pinning it to his Bonding robes, beside the Longbottom crest.

The reception erupted into loud cheers when Luna and Augusta announced that Luna was pregnant with their first child, the witches had gone in a week earlier to check the progress of the embryos, only to be told they were all stable and would Luna like one transferred immediately? Then they had to explain to McGonagall, Flitwick and Kingsley exactly how the situation had come about. All three were speechless and McGonagall smiling through tears. Her only comment was 'if Mr Potter had been here, I would consider this a near perfect day for you, my dear'. Hermione replied that they were keeping a pensieve memory for those that weren't in attendance, to watch at a later date.

Two days after the Bonding, when the guests returned to the UK, Kannan and Bill made their way to the Gerard Majella Clinic in Salem. They had fourteen days of potions in front of them and neither were looking forward to it. But to get the end results of a family of their own, there wasn't much the two wizards weren't prepared to do.

The first day as fine, purging potions are foul but the actual process is over and done with fairly quickly. The second day they both took the gender-swap potion and suffered through the uncomfortable experience of their reproductive organs being reverted to 'primordial goo', as Luna called it, before being regrown to match their physical ages. All within a matter of hours. By day four both had reached the point of accepting outside intervention, as neither of them were able to cope with the emotional upheaval that the process had caused and accepted the sedation that had been offered immediately after taking the gender-swap potion.

The two wizards surrendered to unconsciousness with a sigh of relief, comforted by the knowledge that Augusta and Padraig were monitoring the healers that interacted with them. They were woken on their thirteenth day in the clinic and told that it was time for them to take their next purging potion. Another four hours of discomfort and they were back in the bodies that they preferred, with both Augusta and Padraig laughing at their self-groping and sighs relief as their hands found the right equipment.

The following morning the two wizards gagged their way through the sperm-boosting potion and entered the treatment room. Each was briefly stunned as the sperm retrieval process was an extremely painful one, though thankfully one that left no after-pain. Once the two had been through this, the head healer offered them another purging potion stating that the sperm-booster can leave one feeling like a case 'blue balls' for the next twelve hours. And as both men were having a little difficulty walking and were finding it almost impossible to ignore the feeling, they happily accepted.

They left the clinic some fourteen days and six hours after entering it, they would stay in Salem for two nights while the already fertilised eggs were assessed for health and magical potential. Then it was back to Dunedin to the local magical hospital, St. Damian's, where they would stay until the embryos reached the six-week safety mark, when the embryos would be placed under a medical stasis.

Over the next few months, Kannan and Bill spent a lot of time together, learning about each other. Bill learned that Kannan had nearly been sorted into Slytherin. Kannan learned that Bill had shared a dorm with two members of the Weird Sister and still wrote to them regularly. Bill learnt about Kannan had during his memory-locked exile, purchased the exact same model of motorbike that Sirius had modified. Kannan learned that he wasn't the first to teach an underground DADA class, Bill had done that during the twins' first year.

Sometimes they'd go to St. Damian's and just watch the tiny bean-shaped things that one day would become their children. It was gutting to both of them to watch three of the dozen falter, as they approached the six-week mark. After a five hour assessment and an in-depth and very technical explanation, that probably only Hermione understood, the healers from Salem told them that four of the embryos were failing, one due to not splitting properly, the other three were distorted, possibly due to being transported via floo-travel, but just as likely due to extreme motion or magical sensitivity. Either way those four were not going to develop correctly and if allowed to grow would develop severe physical and mental impairments, even now their chemical levels indicated that all of them were in significant pain.

The healers all recommended that the pair terminate those four, it was unfair to them to allow them to suffer, far better to grant them mercy now, than to make them live in pain. After the terminations, Kannan and Bill brought the still encapsulated embryos back to the resort where the local Maori tribe held a traditional farewell for the young lives that suffered so much before they even drew a single breath.

The week leading up to the September were quiet. Neville and Luna had returned to the UK, Neville was an Auror on active duty and Luna wanted to go through the contents of the Quibbler's office and print room, before her pregnancy was too far along. Hermione and George had bought themselves a smaller, older version of the bus, wanting to give themselves a little more privacy, but at the same time, they wanted to stay with Kannan, Bill and Padraig. Kannan who'd claimed the entirety of the Potter estate, bar the title, had given each of them a substantial vault, which Padraig and Charlie had only added to.

Late on the evening of the September solstice, Bill and Kannan waited for their guests. The first to arrive was Kingsley, of course.

"Kannan. Bill." The British Minister for Magic greeted the two younger wizards with a smile in his deep voice. "How are you?"

"We're good, Kingsley." Kannan gave him a bright smile.

"Ready for this?" Kingsley nodded towards the lake where their Bonding would happen.

"Yeah." Kannan nodded and his smile grew.

"Definitely." Bill agreed.

"So, who else is coming?" Kingsley asked.

"Neville and Luna, of course. McGonagall. She was head of house, you know. And Charlie will be along, soon enough." Bill answered.

"Bill's invited Kirley Duke and Myron Wagtail." Kannan waggled his eyebrows. "They were dormmates."

"Oh my, are they bringing the rest of the band or is it just them?"

"No, just them, at this point. Charlie's hoping that Donaghan might turn up, I don't know if you knew but they were dormmates." Bill replied.

"I'm sure Minerva will be pleased to hear that." Kingsley boomed a laugh.

"What shall I be pleased to hear, Minister?" Minerva McGonagall asked primly.

"Oh, we were just discussing who's coming, Professor." Bill laughed. "Kirley and Myron are due any minute and Charlie's hoping that Donaghan will turn up, he hasn't responded yet, but we're hopeful."

"Oh, lord. Any more of them?" Alarm was written all over McGonagall's face.

"No, Professor." Bill shook his head. "Heath's father is ill. Gideon's wife is due any day, now. Orsino's a single parent to young infant, his wife up and left him, last month. Merton and Herman are working with an orchestra in Canada, converting Myron's songs for a full orchestra for their next album. And well… They weren't in my year, so I wasn't as close to them as Kirley and Myron."

"Oh, thank heavens." She sighed in relief. "And may I say…? Thank you for the invitation. I rarely receive letters from past students. It was lovely to get Miss Grang- Mrs Grimm's invite and now to receive one from yourself, Mr Weas- Mr Prewett." She huffed. "I apologise for mangling the names, I have been addressing you as Weasley and Granger for many years, now."

"Well, perhaps it's time you called us by our first names, Professor." Hermione added as she joined the conversation.

"I should like that, Mrs Grimm… Hermione, I mean." McGonagall gave a regal head bow.

"Good. Kannan? Didn't you want to have a private word with the Professor?" Hermione asked.

"If I'm to call you be your given names, I expect the same curtesy in return, Hermione." McGonagall informed them.

"Wait until after you speak to Kannan, you might feel different about it then." Bill snorted. "Oh and don't forget to take Padraig with you."

Kannan offered McGonagall his arm and led her towards the bus, Padraig trailing along behind them with Teddy in his arms.

They emerged twenty minutes later, a sniffling McGonagall hanging on Kannan's arm, occasionally patting him arm, as though to remind herself of his presence.

The ceremony itself went smoothly, both grooms wearing red and gold and speaking calmly when they recited their vows and made their Bonding Oaths. The late evening darkness making the bright glow of their Bonding even more visible than expected.

Afterwards, they and their guests gathered for a small meal, Kingsley and Minerva giving them a brief update on the Weasley family and the troubles they were having. Apparently, Ron's actions made him a pariah in the wizarding community, no one wanted any connection to him. Ginny had returned to Hogwarts and the new head of Gryffindor, Ralph King had caught her in a compromising position with Andrew Gainsborough, her Hufflepuff prefect counterpart, while on their prefect rounds. They were married the day after term ended and the new Mrs Gainsborough was quite visibly pregnant at her graduation. Percival had offended the wrong person with his officiousness, one too many times and Kingsley had been forced to remove him from the Minister's staff. Molly was still lamenting the exile of Harry Potter and every week would send Kingsley a letter demanding that Harry be absolved of any wrongdoing. Arthur was still bumbling along, in his position, letting Molly bury herself deeper and deeper into the public's dislike, Kingsley said that he had met with Arthur on hte quiet and Arthur had told him that eventually it would reach the point where Gareth, the head of House Weasley would be forced to take action, which would probably be something along of the lines of disowning Arthur and his family, or casting them from the main family. This would give Arthur the chance to act for himself and declare that Molly's actions were the cause of said disownment and have their marriage dissolved, thankful that it was a marriage and not a Bonding. Then he would be free to approach the new Lord Black and request a claim-and-purge. Doing this he might get the chance to be a part of Bill, Charlie and George's lives.

Bill, Charlie and George were all emotional at hearing this. They thought they'd lost their previous family for good, only to be told that Arthur had a plan that was worthy of a Slytherin.

A month later Charlie, George and Hermione joined Bill, Kannan and Padraig for dinner and their monthly family meeting, it wasn't until after little Teddy had been put down for the night, that the adults gathered around a fire pit.

"Um? News?" Charlie offered, holding up a hand.

"Yeah, Char?" Bill said.

"I'm not… the rescue centre here isn't working for me." Charlie huffed a sigh. "Their protocols and methods are too different to what I'm used to, we're clashing. I handed in my notice."

"Charlie?" Bill asked, a frown on his face.

"I've been offered my own section by the Welsh Reserve. Some idiot stole a clutch of Welsh Greens and shrunk the eggs, unfortunately dragons don't take well to magic being cast at them, and so far, they haven't been able to reverse the charm. The eggs have hatched but the dragons stayed shrunken sized. The Reserve is trying to get them recognised as a separate species, but to do that there's a lot of testing involved, and the dragons have to breed true to three generations. Unfortunately, the unshrunk dragons aren't liking the shrunken ones and the Reserve wants to create separate refuge for the little ones." Charlie answered in a hurry.

"And they want you for that?" Hermione looked at him.

"Yeah, they're working with the Ministry and Gringotts. They're pretty much leaving it to me. If I want to stay on the mainland, there's a limited choice of locations, but they're offering up a selection of islands that are either unplottable or have the same sort of muggle-repelling charms that Hogwarts and Diagon Alley have." Charlie nodded.

"Where are the islands?" Padraig asked.

"One is between the Isle of Mull and Tiree. There's two in the straights between the Isle of Skye, Harris in the Hebrides and the Scottish mainland." Charlie replied. "And one in the Irish Sea."

"Interesting locations." Bill hummed.

"I'm leaning towards one of the two between Harris, Skye and Northern Scotland." Charlie shrugged. "No other dragons close by, both islands are unplottable, all the usual muggle repelling charms. And I get to start a reserve pretty much from scratch."

"So, you're heading back to the UK?" Kannan asked.

"I haven't said yes, yet. But Kingsley is getting pushy, he wants an answer by the end of the month." Charlie sighed.

"That's only a week away." Hermione warned.

"I know." Charlie huffed.

"I want to go back, too." George whispered. "It's the shop. I know that Lee and Angelina can manage but it was Fred's and my dream. I need to see it fly." He gave Padraig and Kannan sly looks. "Not to mention that someone, or rather two someone's, have given me a heap of new ideas."

"Do you think you'll be right, facing the shop?" Bill asked, he remembered how devastated George had been at Fred's loss.

"I know it's going to hurt, but Fred would be kicking my up the butt if I let that stop me. Besides I can always work from home when I don't want to face the shop." George answered.

"Mione?" Kannan asked.

"Mum and dad want to go back to their practice. It's time to put the war behind us, Kannan. Let's go home." Hermione said.

"Bill?" Kannan turned to his husband.

"McGonagall's letter?" Bill was referring to a letter received earlier that day. "She wrote about how slow the repairs are going, because the construction crew have to stop whenever they encounter something cursed, charmed or enchanted and then they have to get someone in from Gringotts to deal with it. She wanted to know if I was interested in the position or if I knew someone else that was interested."

Kannan laughed. "Oh, boy. She knows you well, doesn't she?" Offering Bill the chance to investigate anything in Hogwarts that caught his eye?

"Yes, she knows which buttons to press." Bill huffed. "But I won't even consider it, if you're against it, Kannan." He reached his hand out towards the younger wizard.

Kannan smiled and clasped his husband's hand. "As long as we can live somewhere on the grounds, I'm good with returning to Hogwarts."

"But what will you do?" Hermione asked.

"Well… I have a couple of options." Kannan smirked. "If my husband lives up to his reputation, I **_could_** take on the DADA position next year, but I'm thinking of going a slightly different direction… slightly. I was thinking of asking McGonagall to hired me as a DADA tutor for the seniors. I could work with a different group each day and just small groups, each time. Cover the things they need help in, things that maybe the DADA Professor might have gone passed or things that someone is having trouble with. Or if there's someone exceptionally talented, I could work with them."

"And if she won't or can't?" George asked.

"Again, a couple of options. One, I'm good at cleaning, I could work with Filch. Two, I could help with the reconstruction. Three, I could work with George and Pads. Or four, I can be the househusband and look after the kids, mine and Bill's, Teddy, Luna and Neville's or Hermione and George's."

"Daddy Day Care?" Hermione laughed.

"Why not?" Kannan huffed. "I'll admit that I'd prefer to be the DADA tutor, but it is an option."

"Padraig?" Bill asked. "What about you?"

Padraig blinked. "Me?" He pointed at himself. "I'll be mostly looking after Teddy and working with George. I thought you all knew that."

He was answered by varying agreements.

"Okay, then." Bill laughed. "We're going back to the UK." The others all cheered. "So, I suppose I had best get a hold of McGonagall and see what she can do for us." He stood up. "Give me a few minutes." And headed in the direction of the resort's public floo station, Charlie tagging after him, saying that he should call the Welsh Reserve or Kingsley and give them an answer.

Half an hour later the two flopped down between Kannan and George.

"Well?" Hermione demanded.

"I'm good to go." Charlie said. "I only need to finish out the week here and head over. I'll start on Monday, working out which location is better suited." He leant back in his seat and sighed.

"Bill?" Hermione squinted slightly at the curse-breaker.

"Same. We start Monday. She's giving us the old huntsmen's lodge down between the quidditch pitch and the Hogsmeade Main Gates. We'll have to do some repairs, but it's ours, part of our contract is we can do what we like with it." Bill answered. "Kannan's going to have to sit in with the DADA class for the first couple of days, just to work out what level the students are at and then he's on his own. I'll start Monday with the reconstruction team. Mione? McGonagall's desperately hoping she can talk you into taking over from Binns, there's just no reason for him to stay, the student scores are just getting lower and lower."

"I could do that." Hermione bounced in her seat.

"That's what I thought, too. She's got a couple of options for accommodation for you to consider, there's rooms in the castle for you and George or a secure floo connection to wherever you choose to live." Bill went on. "She's aware of the… children situation and will provide a secure floo connection for whomever we want as carer, whether it's Pads or someone else…"

"So… when can we go?" George asked.

"Kingsley will have international floo permits ready and waiting for us by dawn New Zealand time."

"Excellent." George cheered.

"Let's get packing." Padraig agreed.


	11. Chapter 11

_"Kingsley will have international floo permits ready and waiting for us by dawn New Zealand time."_

_"Excellent." George cheered._

_"Let's get packing." Padraig agreed._

The first class that Kannan attended was that of the fifth years. Now here, he felt he was on a stable broom, he'd had at least six of the current class in the D.A. during Harry's fifth year. Dennis Creevey, Jimmy Peakes, Natalie McDonald, Orla Quirke, Emma Dobbs and Nigel Wolpert. Although he thought Owen Cauldwell, Kevin Whitby and Stewart Ackerley were also using familiar techniques when it came to attempting to cast a patronus.

Kannan was rather glad that his patronus had changed after becoming Kannan. No longer was it an adolescent stag, no, now his patronus was a fully mature thunderbird.

"Master Grimm?" Clarence Orwell was the current Professor for DADA this year, he'd been one of Oliver Wood's dormmates. "I have five students that I believe would benefit from spending time with you."

"Of course, Professor." Kannan sat down beside the Professor, where the man gestured. "Whom and why?"

"Three are excelling and two are struggling. Dennis' brother was one of Hogwarts' Fallen, he's not been coping well. Oh, initially he seemed to be doing alright, but of late? His grades are falling, I know he missed a year due to the war and all, but he should be advancing faster than he is." Clarence handed over a manila folder with Dennis' name on it. "Euan Abercrombie. Euan took the Death-Eaters control of the school hard. He'd believed the Prophet up until returning to the school and finding that the Death-Eaters and Voldemort existed and had control of the school. He spent a fair amount of time hiding from everyone, missed a lot of classes and hasn't really tried since." Another folder was handed over. "Rose Zeller, Nigel Wolpert and Jimmy Peakes? Those three I believe could go a long way, easily into the Auror corps. But I simply don't have the time to work with them on the more advanced spells." Three more folders were handed across.

"Alright, what are you currently working on?"

"Patronus. Rose, Nigel and Jimmy have had no problem, but Dennis and Euan? If they don't get more help than I can provide, they're not going to get it."

"How many classes do they have and when?"

"They've a double Mondays and singles on Wednesdays and Fridays." Clarence said.

"Alright. Why don't I take Euan and Dennis today and for the rest of this week, see if I can bring them out of their funk. And from next week, I'll take them on Mondays and the other three Wednesdays and Fridays? If you give me a breakdown of your class schedule, I can work with the two boys to bring them up speed and the others will gain a few things that are handy for the corps." Kannan offered.

"That would be fine. I'm assuming you've a classroom?"

"I do, but I think the lads need something a bit different today. Let me try that before we start pushing in what may be the wrong direction."

"If you think you can bring them around, by all means, do so. The Headmistress told me to do as much as I could to accommodate your requests and bluntly? If something doesn't happen, the two boys are going to fail that component." Clarence grimaced slightly.

"I'll do my best." Kannan stood and turned to the class, the students were flicking through their textbooks and making notes on various things. "Mr Creevey, Mr Abercrombie? You're with me for the week. Come on, pack your things and let's get moving." The two boys quickly packed their things and followed Kannan as he led them from the tower and then into the castle itself. "Your next class is potions with Professor Slughorn, correct?"

"Yessir." Euan muttered. "It starts at two-fifteen, sir."

"Excellent, plenty of time." Kannan headed for the third floor on the right and the History classroom. "Let's make a quick stop and then find a quiet spot to have a chat, huh?"

The two boys that bounded into the Great Hall that evening, were bright and happy lads, a sharp contrast to the dull and lethargic caricatures they'd been since the start of the school year.

Clarence blinked at the two boys and raised an eyebrow to Kannan, who simply gave him a grin and poured himself a goblet of juice.

"Whatever did you do to them, Kannan? They're not the same boys, at all." Clarence wanted to know.

"Not much, really, we just talked. Oh, we did pay a visit to the History classroom and borrowed one of Hermione's memories. After that we just talked." Kannan answered.

"A memory?" Clarence asked.

"Yes, just the one."

"Might I ask which one? Or would that be invasive?"

Kannan studied Clarence, he remembered the man from Harry's time in Gryffindor. "You do recall that Hermione was Harry Potter's closest friend during his time here at Hogwarts? Don't yo?"

"I… I thought it was the Weasley boy…?" Clarence frowned.

"No, not at all. Oh, they were close, friends certainly, but no more than that. What's his name…? Ronan, Ronald, Ronson? Regardless, from speaking to their Professors of the time, Ronald… that's it, Ronald! Anyway, Ronald had jealousy issues and when you pair that with the Weasley temper? Ronald fell prey to his jealousy and temper at least once a year, so much so that in their fourth year, they rarely spoke to each other at all." Kannan waved the subject away.

"Ah, that was the year after I left." Clarence nodded. "How did you find out all this?"

"I asked, Clarence, I simply asked. Portraits are an excellent source of information, as are the other Professors." Kannan laughed gently. "Hermione, as I said was Potter's closest friend, she was one of the few people present at his trial."

"Oh…" Clarence gasped.

"Exactly. Euan believed the Prophet and the Ministry when they said that Potter was unstable or going dark or… whatever they said. So, now he's come to the conclusion that they can't tell the truth, so them stating that Potter is alive in Exile must be a lie, which in turn means that if it's a lie then the Ministry is responsible for his death."

"Oh, good Lord above." Clarence sighed and shook his head.

"Yes." Kannan agreed. "So, for him, watching Hermione's memory of the trial and a statement from the Headmistress that the current Minister was a Gryffindor and one of Potter's guards during the war and closely monitoring what the prophet printed. Well…? That settled him down, some. And of course, the Headmistress' comment that Mr Potter is well and happy, and that she'd seen him just recently, that was almost as good as having seen Potter, himself."

"And Creevey?"

"Survivors guilt." Kannan closed his eyes in remembrance, the sight of Colin's tiny body being carried by Neville and Oliver still hurt his heart.

"Ah…" Clarence sighed.

"Yes. It was a private conversation that I believe should remain private, if Dennis wants people to know, he'll tell them. The only thing I will say, is that I reminded him of how his brother would feel about how he's been. We did have a chat with the Gryffindor ghost and after that we settled ourselves in the kitchens and Dennis told me tails of Colin and their lives together."

"Well, it certainly made a difference." Clarence smiled.

Bill and Kannan greeted George, Padraig and Lee as they entered the shop.

"Hey." George called. "Go straight up. Katie's already there."

"Thanks, George." Kannan gave his adopted brother a hug and bounded up the stairs.

"George." Bill gave the heir to the Grimm family a wave and followed his husband.

Up the stairs and into the space that George had converted from a private flat into a massive single office. In one of the armchairs that were grouped together around a coffee table, sat two witches.

Kannan bounced across the room. "Good afternoon, Katie." Kannan and Bill were quite familiar with Katie Bell, by now.

"Hi Kannan. Hello Bill. Thanks for coming."

"Hello Katie." Bill added as he reached them, he guided Kannan towards one of the larger sofas.

"Kannan, Bill, this is my Aunt, Elizabetta Bell." She introduced the second woman. "Lizzy, these are Kannan and Bill Prewett."

"Madam Bell." Kannan smiled and offered his hand.

"Mr Prewett." She shook his hand and did the same with Bill. "Mr Prewett."

"Madam Bell." Bill smiled. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with us."

"Not at all, Mr Prewett. Katie was quite short on details, but the idea was most intriguing."

"Lizzy." Katie chided.

"Hush, now, Katie." Lizzy waved at Katie to be quiet.

"Trust Katie to only give you half the story." Bill laughed.

"Why don't you tell us about yourself, Madam Bell and then we'll tell you about what we are hoping for." Kannan requested.

"Very well, Mr Prewett, but please call me Lizzy. As Katie said, I am her Aunt. What she didn't say is that I am considerably younger than her father and only his half-sister. Katie's grandmother died when Katie's father was ten and her grandfather remarried a few years later. Katie's father was fifteen when I was born. We'd had little contact, until my parents were both killed during the war, leaving my half-brother as my guardian. He brought me into his house and raised me, when he married, his wife accepted my presence and life continued. Not even their own children would change that. I began my healer's training, straight out of Hogwarts and have begun to specialise in midwifery and pregnancy care. However, I am finding that my knowledge of pregnancy is… more theoretical and less practical than I would like."

"Hence why you're interested in our proposal?" Bill asked.

"Yes. I have no desire to be a parent, not at this time in my life, but opportunity to go through a pregnancy without the ongoing responsibility of raising a child, is extremely difficult to resist." Lizzy added. "The chance to to know exactly what it is that my patients are going through, first-hand? That is something I couldn't just walk away from without knowing more."

"Ah, we did wonder." Bill glanced at Kannan as he said it.

"You might have…" Kannan snorted and shook his head. "Alright, so… What we want is… basically we want some to carry a child for us. From approximately six weeks after conception, through to birth."

"Six weeks **_after_** conception?" Lizzy asked.

"Yes… after. We went through a rather awkward process in Salem, that involved gender-swapping, fertility treatments, sperm and egg removals, before the eggs were fertilised and incubated for six weeks, then each embryo was assessed for medical and magical health and those that passed were placed under a medical stasis." Kannan explained.

"And those that didn't pass?" Lizzy asked.

"The only embryos that were terminated were ones the healers said would likely not have survived or if they had would have been physically or mentally impaired, or those that were already suffering from nerve damage." Bill answered. "We were living in New Zealand at the time and those that didn't pass, were taken with us for the local Maori tribe to farewell in a traditional ceremony."

A small but pleased smile slid across Lizzy's face. "And what are your requirements and terms of involvement?"

"Kannan?" Bill raised a brow at the man sitting beside him. "You set the contract."

"Sure." Kannan turned to face Lizzy. "So, the first we're insisting on is a medical assessment, someone impartial, not connected to you or to us. Only once you have a clear health certification will we consider moving to the next step which is a contract with full disclosure. But in brief? We'll pay all medical costs in the lead-up to the embryo transfer, during the pregnancy and until the healers clear you, after the delivery. We will provide accommodation and all living costs, as well as a small personal allowance. You'll be seen by a healer, weekly. We reserve the right to monitor your food intake, for the safety of the baby and yourself. And your physical activity, if necessary."

"And what will you expect of my private life?"

"Your private life is yours, but we will be insisting on proof of non-pregnancy prior to the embryo transfer and a length of abstinence afterwards, just to ensure that the only child you carry during this time is ours." Kannan answered.

"I'm in a long-term relationship with a witch." Lizzy told them.

"Oh… Then why didn't you bring her with you?" Kannan asked.

"Erina's aware of everything I know and will insist on being involved in the ongoing negotiations, but she felt that it was better for me to meet you alone, at least today." Lizzy answered.

"Fair enough." Kannan nodded.

"So… you provide the accommodation. Would that cover Erina, too? Right now, we're renting a muggle flat and neither of us like it."

"We're currently living at Hogwarts, but we've purchased a cottage in Hogsmeade for the duration. Having said that, we would happily rent it to you, for a nominal fee, until we're ready to plan the arrival of our second child. At that point we may need to renegotiate, but we will give you plenty of notice. And we are prepared to work with you."

"And what of my professional life?"

"As long as it doesn't impact negatively on the pregnancy or our child, we have no concerns with you continuing to work." Kannan replied.

"Will my working affect the allowance? If you're paying for accommodation, the living costs and the allowance, and I'm still working, Erina and I could put a significant amount aside towards purchasing a home of our own." Lizzy mused.

"We're more than happy to work with you, Lizzy." Kannan said. "If you want to buy a house, we'll help you buy a house."

Kannan approached the doors of Hogwarts' hospital wing with a little trepidation. Less than ten people knew who he'd been, but when it came to who to look after his children, his first thought was always going to be Madam Pomfrey.

He just had to tell her.

He entered the hospital and nodded to the medi-witch as she tended a little firstie that had overindulged on candy eggs at the Easter feast, the night before. He crossed the room and sat himself down on 'his' bed, the one that bore a plaque on the wall. He read the elegant lettering and laughed.

_In memory of Harry Potter,_

_who holds the dubious record, _

_for the greatest number of injuries_

_sustained in a school career._

_1991-1998._

"Master Grimm? What can I do for you?" Madam Pomfrey smiled at the firstie and sent her ack to her dorm.

"Madam Pomfrey, I…" He trailed off, he didn't know what to say.

"Master Grimm?" Madam Pomfrey hurried over. "What is it? How can I help?"

Kannan threw up a quick _muffliato_ charm, which caused the medi-witch to widen her eyes and look concerned.

"There's something you need to know, and I need it to be kept completely secret." He began.

"I hold my patients' privacy in the utmost regard, Master Grimm." Pomfrey replied.

"Ah, but I'm not here as a patient, not this time." He countered.

"This time? Do you plan on it in the future?"

"No, ma'am. But I've been here in the past."

"I doubt that, young man, I would remember having tended you." Pomfrey disagreed.

Kannan smirked. "Oh, but you put a plaque up for me and all." He looked at the wall to his right.

Pomfrey followed his line of sight and frowned. "Excuse me?"

"The last thing you said to me was…?" He hummed in thought and when he spoke, his voice held a remarkable semblance to the medi-witch's. "Goodness, Potter, you're extremely lucky, yet again. Surviving another Killing Curse, only you could do that. Whatever would your parents think. Oh, no, I know what James would say, but Lily would likely box your ears, young man. Duelling a madman. Sheer stupidity. I expect you to take those potions, don't make me _stupefy_ you."

"You expect me to believe-" She started.

"The Headmistress knows, ask her, but I'd appreciate if you'd not do so in front of any portraits." Kannan cut her off.

Pomfrey frowned at him. "Stay." She pointed at the bed and stalked off in the direction of her office. A few minutes later she re-emerged closely followed by Professor McGonagall.

"Kannan? Telling tales, I hear." The Headmistress said primly.

"Of course, Headmistress." Kannan grinned.

"Well, I dare say if you must tell tales, at least Pomona will be able to verify what you say. She should be quite familiar with your… history." McGonagall sniffed.

"What? You mean to say…?" The medi-witch's jaw fell in shock.

"Harry Potter was Exiled, Pomona, and as part of that he acquired a new identity. That of Kannan Grimm. Yes." McGonagall stated, bluntly.

"Oh, my goodness…" Pomona Pomfrey stumbled back a few steps and sat down on the next bed, as though she had been hit with a jelly-legs hex. "Oh, but… but…"

"It gets better… or worse… depending on your point of view." McGonagall huffed.

"You married Bill Weasley?" Pomfrey whispered.

"I **_Bonded_** with Bill Prewett." Kannan corrected. "He might have been born a Weasley, but he did a blood claim-and-purge and is now Heir Prewett."

"Oh, yes, of course, I forgot. My apologies, Master Grimm." Pomfrey spluttered out an apology.

"Is that all, Kannan?" McGonagall asked. "I have a Board of Governors meeting due to start in an hour."

"Actually, no, that's not all. I came to ask if Madam Pomfrey would monitor Elizabetta Bell. She's carrying our child." He went on and explained to the medi-witch and the Headmistress about the process he and Bill had visited Salem for and how they'd offered Lizzy a contract to carry a child for them and why she'd agreed to it.

"Elizabetta was always extremely focused in her research." Pomfrey nodded. "Of course, I'll monitor her for you. Will she be coming here, or will you want me to go to her?"

"Initially, she'll still be working, so I'd suggest she come here. With the Headmistress' permission, of course?" Kannan looked to McGonagall with a raised brow.

McGonagall huffed and pursed her lips, before giving in and smiling. "Of course, Kannan."

"Brilliant!" Kannan beamed. "Now, Lizzy is going to St. Mungo's tomorrow to get started on the process, her appointment is at eleven. With your approval, I'll get her to drop in here beforehand, so you can get a baseline history. The embryo transfer won't happen for another fortnight, but from what I understand, she has to take a course of potions before then to prepare her for the transfer." He shrugged. "That's not really something that Bill or I need to be involved in, but we did ask if we could have a representative attend. So, if you want, you can be involved from the very beginning."

"Excellent. I'll meet Miss Bell here at nine, that will give me time to update my records and do a fresh baseline for her." Pomfrey nodded sharply.

"Wow, Mione!" Kannan grinned at his sister-in-law. "You make pretty babies." He cooed at the tiny boy in his arms. "Yes, she does, you're so pretty."

"Well, thankfully he didn't get my hair." Hermione grunted, sitting up, so that George could rearrange the cushions behind her.

"What are you calling the little horrors?" Padraig asked from his chair on the other side of the bed, his focus completely on the bundle he held.

"We were going to call our firstborn is Fredrick, of course." Hermione smiled at her husband. "But George seems to think that Fred wouldn't have liked that, very much."

"He wouldn't have." George shook his head. "We thought about it a bit and we decided that he'd approve of us naming them after the Marauders."

"Kannan is holding James Hector and Padraig has Remus Fredrick." Hermione told them.

"…oh, wow…" Padraig began to sniffle.

"They'd approve, Pads. Wouldn't they?" Kannan smiled, running a finger down James' cheek.

"They would…" Padraig's voice was choked.

Neville stuck his head on the door. "Hey guys. Just thought I'd let you know, Luna's gone into labour, too."

"It doesn't rain, it pours." Bill sighed. "Kannan, gimme." He gestured to the baby Kannan held. "My turn."

"Bill?" Kannan called as he entered the lesser south tower of the Viaduct Entrance Stronghold.

"Kannan? That you?" Bill's voice filtered down from the tower's turret.

"Yes, dear. Are you at a stopping point?" Kannan waited patiently, he wasn't going where his husband didn't want him to, not when curses and hexes were involved.

"Yeah, half a sec." It took nearly a minute before Kannan heard footsteps coming down the stair. "Hello, love. What's up?"

"I have news." Kannan said in a sing-song voice.

"Well, Lizzy's already pregnant and both Mione and Luna are nursing so, I doubt either of them are pregnant again. That leaves… Charlie and Padraig. What have they done?" Bill frowned.

"Oh, no, not them. Not this time." Kannan beamed.

"What? Who is it and what did they do?"

"Molly accosted Kingsley in Diagon, ranting about Harry and his Exile and about George and his shop while Arthur watched on. She went far enough that Gareth lost his temper." Kannan smirked.

"Ooh…" Bill's eyes filled with hope.

"Yep, he disowned her and Arthur. Right there on the Alley, in public. And the moment he finished, Arthur snapped. He declared that Molly's actions were responsible for the disownment and he dissolved their marriage on the spot. Then he went into Gringotts and asked them to contact Charlie, as Lord Black. Charlie brought him into the Black family, with the appropriate amendments… you have your father back, Bill." Kannan beamed at his stunned husband.

Bill just stared at him, not able to say anything.

"I invited everyone, including Arthur, for dinner tonight. I hope that's alright?" Kannan chuckled as Bill nodded violently. "Yes, I thought it might be." Bill gave him a flat look. "Oh, be nice. I spoke to Minerva and she's given you the afternoon off." Bill blinked and raised his eyebrows, still unable toe to speak. "But if you'd rather spend the afternoon hunting the occupant of a hexed painting, instead of spending it with your husband and father…?" Bill just reached out and grabbed Kannan's arm and flipped the smaller man up over his shoulder and headed off down the stairs. "So impatient." Kannan flicked a stinging hex at Bill's butt, only to laugh as Bill reached up and swatted him with a wand.

_"It's time."_ The voice of Katie Bell emerged from the silvery ghost-like hawk that was the chaser's patronus.

**_"Bill!"_** Kannan called as he bounded up the steps into their small cottage.

"What?" Bill stuck his head out of their bedroom at the end of the hall.

"Katie just sent a patronus. Lizzy's gone into labour." Kannan answered, darting into the connecting room that they'd done up as a nursery. Seconds later he emerged carrying the bag they'd made up for the baby. Their son.

"Oh, hell. You'd better let Pads know, he's with George at the shop. I'll message Mione and ask her to let McGonagall and Pomfrey know." Bill sprang towards the cupboard, he needed to get changed, gardening clothes were not suitable for attending the birth of his son. "George can tell dad, Charlie and Neville." He added as he pulled his shirt off.

All up, it took the two men ten minutes to change, notify people and get to the hospital. The welcome witch pointed them in the direction of the maternity wing. The two wizards paused briefly at the nurses' station and were sent down the hall, to the correct room. They arrived to hear Lizzy and Erina discussing the difference between knowing the theoretics of something and actually experiencing it. Contractions felt remarkably different when you were the one in labour.

Less than an hour later, a small bundle of dark hair was placed in Kannan's arms, while Bill had his, wrapped around them both.

"What are we going to call him, love?" Bill asked, quietly. "We never decided."

"I was thinking… what about Tristan?" Kannan whispered.

"Tristan…? Tristan… Yes, I like Tristan." Bill pressed his cheek against Kannan's.

"Tristan Arthur." Kannan said. "Welcome to the Grimm family, son."


End file.
